N.  C.  Women  of  the  Confederacy 


Anderson 


C&e  Mbtaty 

o£  the 

Ontoersitp  of  il3ort|)  Carolina 


Collection  ot  iRortf)  Caroliniana 
^10  book  toag  ptegtntto 


.5" 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032770270 
This  book  must  not 

be    taken   from    the 

Library  building. 


LUNC-10M  Ag  41 


•Bfartlj  Carolina  Wttmtn 

of  tlye 

Cottfeiteranj 


'Lest  We  Forget' 


Sfartij  Carolina  Wttuivn 

of  tl?0 

©onfeiteraty 


Written  and  Published  by 

MRS.  JOHN  HUSKE  (LUCY  LONDON)  ANDERSON 

fayetteville,  n.  c. 

Hiistorian,  North  Carolina  Division 
United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy 

1926 


THE  FIRST  CONFEDERATE  MONUMENT 
IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Erected  by  the  WOMEN  of  Fayetteville,  December  30,  1868 
In  Cross  Creek  Cemetery 


INSCRIPTION: 

~Nfiv  shall  your  glory  be  forgot  while  fame  her  records  \eep, 
Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot  where  valor  proudly  sleeps. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/northcarolinawomOOande 


In  iCoumg  Steitmtibranre 


This  Volume  is  Dedicated 

TO 

NORTH  CAROLINA'S  WOMEN 

OF  THE 

CONFEDERACY 

"Whose  loving  ministrations  nursed  the  wounded 

to  health, 
And  soothed  the  last  hours  of  the  dying; 

Whose  unselfish  labors 
Supplied  the  wants  of  their  defenders  in 

the  field, 
Whose  unwavering  faith  in  our  Cause 

Showed  ever  a  guiding  star, 
Through  the  perils  and  disasters  of  war; 

Echoes  sublime  fortitude 
Sustained  them  under  every  privation  and 

all  suffering, 
Whose  floral  offerings 

Were  yearly  laid  upon  the  graves  of  those 
Whom  they  loved  and  honored; 

and 
Whose  patriotism 

Has  taught  their  children 
To  emulate  the  deeds  of  their  Confederate  sires." 

(From  the  "Women  of  the  South"  Supplement.) 


CONTENTS 


****»»»*»*»* 


First  Confederate  Monument  in  North  Carolina. 

Dedicative Page       3 

Foreword Page      7 

Women  of  the  Confederacy Page       9 

The  Mothers  of  Many  Inventions Page     12 

Women  Take  Men's  Places Page     14 

Secret  Service  Work Page     16 

Women  Prepare  for  War Page     21 

Blockade  Running  Into  Wilmington Page     37 

Women  in  Nursing  and  Hospital  Work Page     40 

•  Picture  of  a  Yankee  Foraging  Party. 

Courage  Displayed Page    49 

Canteen  Work Page     59 

Other  Incidents  of  Women's  Work Page     59 

Heroic  Women  of  Western  North  Carolina Page    71 

Wit  and  Repartee Page    77 

Literary  Women  of  the  Sixties Page     87 

Christmas  During  the  Confederacy Page     81 

Women  Urge  Church  Bells  for  Confederate  Cannon Page    91 

Other  Characters  of  North  Carolina Page    94 

Founder  of  North  Carolina  Division  of  the  U.  D.  C Page    97 

Young  Women  Take  Men's  Places Page  102 

Recollections  of  Young  Girls Page  103 

First  Confederate  Flags  Made  by  North  Carolina  Women Page  107 

First  Monuments  and  Memorial  Associations Page  116 

North  Carolina  Mothers  of  Many  Sons Page  123 

Welcome  Home,  Heroes  in  Gray Page  133 

North  Carolina  Verses  of  the  Sixties Page  136 


FOREWORD 

In  presenting  this  little  volume  to  the  people  of  toy  State,  I  do  so 
with  the  hope  that  this  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  REAL  HISTORY  of 
the  part  the  women  of  North  Carolina  took  in  the  Confederacy.  It  is 
with  great  happiness  that  I  am  realizing  a  "dream  come  true,"  in  the  pub- 
lication of  these  few  sketches  I  have  collected,  which  illustrate  the  his- 
tory  of  North  Carolina  women  of  the  Confederacy.  The  many  delight' 
ful  friendships  that  I  have  made  in  trying  to  "discover1'  our  women  of 
the  Sixties  invanous  communities,  have  more  than  repaid  me  for  the 
hundreds  of  letters  written.  Many  more  names  and  incidents  could  have 
found  a  place  here  if  all  the  sections  of  the  State  had  responded  to  my 
"call"  for  facts  about  the  women  of  the  Confederacy. 

These  stories  that  have  been  recorded  are  well  authenticated,  but  the 
collection  of  these  was  like  digging  in  the  "undug11  earth  for  hidden  gold, 
hard  to  find,  but  very  precious  when  discovered. 

My  grateful  appreciation  is  given  to  those  who  have  allowed  me  to 
share  their  "memories,"  and  to  turn  back  the  pages  of  history  with  them. 

To  be  a  Daughter  of  the  Confederacy  is  the  greatest  honor  we  can 
pay  our  Confederate  ancestry,  and  it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  each  member 
of  this  beloved  organisation  to  fulfill  the  first  object  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  North  Carolina  Division,  which  is 

"To  honor  the  memory  of  those  who  served  and  those  who  fell  in  the 
service  of  the  Confederate  States,  *  *  *  also  to  recall  the  part  taken  by 
Southern  women  in  patient  endurance  of  hardship  and  patriotic  devotion 
during  the  struggle,  as  in  untiring  efforts  after  the  war  during  the  recon' 
struction  of  the  South." 

What  prouder  heritage  can  we  give  our  children  than  these  records? 
Every  land  cherishes  its  memories,  and  history  is  nothing  but  memories - 
so  when  every  Daughter  of  the  Confederacy  awakens  to  the  importance 
of  preserving  these  records  we  will  have  a  history  of  our  State  that  will 
fill  VOLUMES. 

We  may  prove  worthy  descendants  of  these  noble  women  of  the 
Sixties,  and  in  remembrance  of  them  let  us  strive  for  their  steadfastness 
and  courage.  "Their  brave  deeds  shall  brightly  shine  upon  the  books 
of  FAME,  and  Time's  immortal  scroll  will  keep  the  record  of  their  names. 

Lucy  Worth  London  Anderson. 
fayetteville,  N.  C. 
August  23  rd,  192t>. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  WOMEN 
OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 


"The  loving  mothers,  sisters,  sweethearts,  wives, 
Who,  when  the  war  drum's  fatal  summons  came, 
Gave  up  the  dearest  treasures  of  their  lives 
And  bore  the  Martyr's  cross  in  Freedoms  name." 


The  spirit  displayed  by  those  women  of  the  Confederacy  was  worthy 
of  the  wives  and  mothers  of  the  grandest  heroes  who  ever  fought  on  the 
field  of  battle. 

The  women  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Confederacy  possessed  the  same 

•X'rageous  and  self -reliant  spirit,  that  was  inherited  from  this  States'  Co- 

lenial  and  Revolutionary  women,  who  acted  with  their  men  in  shaping 

ome  of  the  most  inmportant  events  in  the  establishing  of  the  United 

States  of  America. 

We  point  with  pride  to  the  fact  that  North  Carolina  women  were  the 
first  to  resist  the  unjust  tax  of  England,  in  the  Edenton  "Tea  Party;" 
that  our  State  made  the  first  open  resistance  against  the  Stamp  Act;  that 
the  first  battle  of  the  Revolution  was  in  Alamance  County;  that  the  first 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed  (May  20,  1775)  by  the  patriots 
~,f  Mecklenburg  county,  that  at  Halifax  was  assembled  the  first  Provin- 
•ial  Congress  which  instructed  delegates  to  stand  for  Independence,  and 
*■  the  battle  of  Moore's  Creek  was  fought  the  first  real  victory  for  the 
colonies. 

In  the  war  between  the  States  North  Carolina  has  a  proud  heritage 
which  should  be  handed  down  to  the  remotest  generation — for  did  we 
not  give  more  men  to  the  cause  and  lost  more  than  any  other  Southern 
State?  The  women  of  our  State  point  with  pride  to  the  fact  that  North 
Carolina  was:  "First  at  Bethel,  fartherest  at  Gettysburg  and  Chicamauga: 
nd  last  at  Appomattox" 

So  much  the  greater  pride  we  should  feel  for  these  women  of  our  State 
ot  the  Sixties,  who  are  much  closer  in  blood  to  our  women  of  today  than 


it)  'Horih  Carolina  Women 

those  of  one'hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  we  should  pass  on  the  in' 
dividual  story  of  the  self 'sacrifice  and  courage  of  North  Carolina's  wo- 
man  of  the  Confederacy. 

"Let  us  preserve  her  memory  and  \eep  fresh, 
Li\e  flowers  in  dew,  her  noble  deeds." 

Though  it  was  with  sorrowing  hearts  they  saw  NoYth  Carolina  leave 
the  Union,  yet  when  her  State's  rights  were  violated  and  their  beloved 
State  threatened  by  hostile  foe,  they  showed  the  resolute  spirit  of  their 
pioneer  "mothers1'  when  they  took  their  stand  beside  their  Confederate 
soldiers  in  the  fight  for  State  Sovereignty. 

That  the  women  of  our  State  today  may  better  appreciate  and  value 
the  character  and  achievements  of  the  Women  of  the  Confederacy,  it  is 
my  privilege  to  give  glimpses  of  these  women,  and  I  have  tried  to  record 
a  bit  of  their  history,  from  1861  to  1865,  a  great  part  of  which  is  un' 
written. 

To  attempt  to  portray  as  well  as  our  imperfect  records  permit,  the 
spirit,  character,  and  deeds  of  the  North  Carolina  Women  of  the  Con' 
federacy,  is  a  difficult  task,  for  so  little  has  been  preserved  as  to  the  part 
individual  women  of  the  State  played  in  the  war. 

Their  noblest  eulogy  is  a  simple  portrayal  of  their  character  and 
work.  The  noble  heroism  of  these  women  showed  itself  in  uncomplain- 
ing suffering,  in  loving  ministration  and  in  the  efficient  discharge  of  ar- 
duous  duties. 

Many  eulogies  have  been  given  to  the  Women  of  the  Confederacy 
but  these  pages  are  simply  to  ressurect  a  few  names  and  incidents  which 
could  be  duplicated  in  every  section  of  the  State.  North  Carolina  Wo' 
men  of  the  Sixties!  Who  shall  call  one  a  heroine  more  than  the  other, 
for  all  worked  in  the  same  way  to  the  same  end!  "The  humblest  soul 
who  does  her  bit,  in  God's  own  book  of  Life  is  writ." 

The  way  our  women  of  the  Sixties  rose  to  meet  the  emergency  of  war 
should  place  her  name  high  in  the  State's  Hall  of  Fame. 

Every  community  had  her  heroine,  and  its  special  story  of  splendid 
daring,  endurance,  and  achievement  should  be  put  on  record.  The  story 
of  the  ingenious  devices  and  clever  makeshifts  to  supply  needful  things 
during  the  years  of  blockade  and  non-production;  the  ills  and  atrocities  of 
Reconstruction;  the  records  of  Soldier's  Aid  Societies,  Wayside  Hospitals, 
and  Memorial  Associations;  sketches  of  every  day  life  in  the  Confederacy 


of  the  Confederacy  i  1 

■ — its  lights  and  shadows,  fun,  work,  jokes,  songs,  costumes,  and  fare — 
all  these  are  of  great  value  in  preserving  for  a  history  of  these  women  in 
each  section  of  North  Carolina. 


12  Horth  Carolina  'Women 


THE  MOTHERS  OF  MANY  INVENTIONS 

"Our  mothers  wove  of  cornshuc\  brai 

Their  hats  and  bas\ets  too, 
Of  homespun  all  their  dresses  made, 

Those  testing  days  of  '62. " 


The.  women  were  in  truth  "The  mothers  of  many  inventions"  and  in 
every  locality  of  this  State  and  of  the  South  there  was  shown  the  same 
resourcefulness  in  manufacturing  household  articles.  Hats  were  fabri' 
cated  from  palmetto  leaves,  corn  shucks,  oat  straw  and  broad  leaved 
grasses,  buttons  made  from  gourds,  clothes  fastened  with  buttons 
of  persimmon  seeds,  slippers  made  from  rabbit  and  squirrel  fur  and  old 
tent  canvas.  Much  of  the  underwear,  blankets,  towels,  jeans  for  clothing 
for  the  soldiers  were  made  at  home  by  spinning  or  weaving.  Everything 
was  utilized.  Cartridge  belts  and  boxes  were  made  from  layers  of  cloth 
sewed  together  and  covered  with  varnish. 

The  fur  of  rabbits  was  mixed  with  a  small  amount  of  cotton  and 
carded  and  spun  into  thread  and  made  into  stockings  and  gloves. 

Roots,  bark,  leaves  and  twigs  of  trees  were  used  for  dye  with  a  small 
amount  of  copperas  or  bluestone  which  was  carefully  preserved.  A  kind 
of  clay  was  used  for  dye. 

Shoes  were  made  of  cowhides  in  the  natural  state  and  were  blacked 
with  soot  taken  from  the  bottom  of  iron  pots  used  in  cooking  over  the 
fire.  Cloth  uppers  were  made  by  the  women  themselves  when  the  soles 
of  worn-out  shoes  were  in  good  condition  or  had  enough  foundation  to 
resole. 

The  best  and  warmest  of  the  cloth  was  made  into  clothes  for  the  men 
and  a  clean  suit  was  always  on  hand  in  case  any  of  them  should  come 
home. 

The  necessity  developed  all  their  latent  ingenuities  as  they  had  to  find 
substitutes  for  food  such  as  sugar,  coffee,  soda  and  tea.  Sorghum  was 
used  for  sugar;     rye,  wheat  and  okra  for  coffee;  ashes  of  corn  cobs  for 


of  the  Confederacy  13 

soda;  and  any  suitable  dried  leaf  for  tea,  such  as  sassafras  and  blackberry. 

Such  household  necessities  as  candles  were  made  by  placing  drippings 
in  a  pan  with  a  woolen  rag  for  the  wick.  Pine  knots  were  also  used. 
Soap  was  made  by  boiling  scraps  of  meat,  meat-skins  and  bones  in  lye, 
obtained  by  placing  wood  ashes  in  a  keg  or  barrel,  or  any  wooden  vessel, 
and  dripping  water  through. 

Tea  and  coffee  were  sweetened  with  sorghum  molasses.  Christmas 
fruit  cake  was  made  for  the  soldiers  out  of  dried  cherries,  dried  whortle 
berries,  candied  watermelon  rind  and  molasses. 

When  beeves  disappeared  and  there  was  no  tallow  for  candles,  syca- 
more  balls  were  soaked  in  fat  and  burned  in  pans  for  lights,  or  strings 
twisted  hard  were  put  in  bottles  filled  with  grease  or  beeswax.  Ink, 
colored  with  indigo  or  berry  juice  was  made  from  oak  and  cedar  balls. 
Old  scraps  of  wall  paper,  summed  with  flour  plaste,  served  to  carry 
tender  messages  to  soldiers  far  away.  Our  women  of  the  sixties  were 
pharmacists  as  well  as  chemists.  They  compounded  from  herbs  many 
simple  remedies  for  their  children  and  servants,  when  there  was  no  med' 
icine  to  be  had.  Nitre  for  gunpowder  was  often  dug  by  the  women  from 
old  smoke  houses,  and  tobacco  barns. 

Wool  from  old  mattresses  was  often  recarded  and  spun  into  yarns  for 
socks  to  keep  the  soldiers  from  having  cold  feet.  Carpets,  heavy  cur' 
tains  and  draperies  were  unraveled  and  woven  into  blankets  for  the  army. 
In  answer  to  a  call  for  silk  for  war  balloons,  discarded  silken  dresses  were 
pulled  apart  and  the  silk  furnished.  Garments  discarded  years  before 
were  made  over  for  indefinite  service.  The  homespun  cloth  which  was 
woven  at  home  was  a  uniform  for  men,  women  and  children.  To  re- 
lieve its  ugliness  the  women  concocted  dyes  of  various  kinds  from  poke 
berries  and  elder  berries  and  some  of  these  dresses  were  far  more  prized 
than  formerly  had  been  the  brocades  and  satins.  These  Confederate 
girls  wore  them  proudly,  singing  the  patriotic  song  of  the  South: 

"My  homespun  dress  is  plain  I  \now, 

My  hat's  palmetto  too;        ? 
But  then  they  show  what  Southern  girls 

For  Southern  rights  will  do." 


14  Kiorth  Carolina  Women 


WOMEN  TAKE    MEN'S  PLACES 

"Hear  ye  not  the  sound  of  battle, 
Sabres  clash  and  mus\ets  rattle? 
Fight  away,  fight  away,  fight  away  in  Dixie  Land." 

At  the  advent  of  war  our  women  had  to  take  up  the  burdens  dropped 
by  the  absent  fathers  and  brothers  and  with  real  ability  they  assumed 
control  of  plantations,  stock  and  slaves,  financed  the  homes  and  indus' 
tries  of  the  State.  Many  women  of  wealth  joined  the  poorer  women  in 
tilling  the  fields  and  reaping  the  harvests,  as  many  of  the  slaves  joined 
the  Federals.  The  fact  that  these  women,  in  a  great  part,  kept  the  State 
fed,  attests  their  ability,  and  during  the  last  months  of  the  war,  almost 
the  entire  army  of  General  Lee  was  fed  by  North  Carolina.  The  bur' 
dens  imposed  on  these  capable  women  increased  each  day,  and  additional 
responsibilities  were  assumed. 

A  few  months  before  Lee's  surrender,  news  reached  central  North 
Carolina  that  his  army  was  without  food.  At  once,  in  houses  both  hum- 
ble and  stately,  the  women  made  a  division  even  to  the  last  peck  of 
meal  and  with  no  thought  of  themselves  the  contribution  to  the  army 
was  shipped.  When  a  tax  was  levied  by  the  State  for  whatever  re- 
mained  in  the  storehouse  or  crib,  the  women  met  the  tax  with  little 
evasion.  Nothing  was  a  sacrifice  for  these  women,  when  relieving  the 
wants  of  their  soldiers. 

When  the  first  N.  C.  Hospital  was  equipped  and  opened  at  Petersburg 
in  October,  1861,  under  Doctor  Peter  Hines,  of  Raleigh,  from  among 
the  women  of  this  State,  who  offered  their  services  as  nurses,  three  very 
efficient  ones  were  chosen.  They  were  Mrs.  Kennedy  of  Wilmington, 
Mrs.  Beasley  of  Plymouth,  and  Miss  MX.  Pettigrew  of  Raleigh. 

In  almost  every  neighborhood  they  organised  sewing  societies,  knit- 
ting associations,  hospital  aid  societies  and  nursing  clubs.  In  many  places 
churches  were  turned  into  hospitals  and  were  depots  for  bolts  of  cloth, 
linen  and  flannel.     Sewing  machines  ran  day  and  night.     At  railroad 


of  the  Confederacy  15 

junctions,  such  as  Raleigh,  Goldsboro,  Greensboro,  Charlotte,  Salisbury, 
Weldon,  Fayetteville,  wayside  hospitals  equipped  with  surgeons,  medi- 
cal supplies  and  rude  operating  tables  were  established.,  with  the  women 
volunteering  as  nurses.  Countless  women  went  from  house  to  house 
distributing  cloth  to  be  sewed  and  yarns  to  be  woven  and  then  collected 
and  shipped  as  offerings  to  their  soldiers.  After  an  ardous  day  women 
often  worked  far  into  the  night,  adding  comfort  to  their  soldier  boys 
who  were  fighting  for  the  land  they  loved. 

The  women  and  girls  made  the  haversacks  and  knapsacks  of  leathe1 
bound  with  braid,  aiso  the  heavy  coats,  worn  by  the  men,  fully  equipping 
companies  of  soldiers.  The  girls  knitted  hundreds  of  pairs  of  socks, 
made  knapsacks,  knit  mufflers,  gloves,  wristlets,  havelocks,  (helmets) 
and  were  busy  every  moment.  Then  there  were  the  "good  things"  put 
up  in  boxes  and  sent  to  camp,  pies,  etc.,  each  article  meaning  real  self' 
denial  by  those  at  home. 

We  had  a  "Molly  Pitcher"  right  here  in  our  own  state,  (Mrs.  L.  M. 
Blalock),  disguised  as  a  Confederate  soldier,  she  with  her  husband,  on 
May  20,  162,  joined  the  26th  North  Carolina  regiment  as  recruits,  from 
Caldwell  county,  and  was' supposed  to  be  a  young  brother  of  her  husband. 
She  served  nearly  a  year  and  took  regular  soldier  fare,  being  in  three  big 
battles.  Not  one  of  the  company  suspected  she  was  a  woman  till  her 
husband  being  discharged  on  account  of  sickness,  she  disclosed  her  identi' 
ty  and  resigned. 


16  Worth  Carolina  'Women 


SECRET  SERVICE  WORK 


"God  shares  the  gift  of  head  and  heart, 
And  crowns  blest  woman  with  a  hero's  part." 

One  of  the  most  outstanding  heroines  that  North  Carolina  can  claim 
in  the  War  between  the  States  was  Miss  Emmeline  Pigott  of  Carteret 
County.  This  young  woman's  name  deserves  a  high  place  among  our 
State's  bravest  women,  for  her  cool  courage  was  often  shown  in  the  midst 
of  great  danger.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  Miss  Pigott,  then  a 
young  girl,  had  given  her  whole  heart  to  the  cause  of  the  South,  nursing 
the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  who  were  brought  in  from  the  attacks  on 
our  coasts.  Her  soldier  sweetheart  fell  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  and 
after  that  Emmeline  Pigott  felt  that  she  must  do  even  more  for  the  Con- 
federacy.  She  offered  herself  for  secret  service  work  in  the  Confeder- 
ate Government,  and  bore  important  dispatches  in  large  pockets  adjusted 
under  her  full  skirts.  Many  dangerous  journeys  were  made  by  her  be- 
tween  New  Bern  (which  was  occupied  by  the  Yankees)  and  the  sea' 
ports,  and  she  narrowly  escaped  capture  very  often,  going  through  great 
danger  to  fulfill  her  mission. 

Finally  this  daring  young  girl  was  seized,  and  while  being  searched, 
she  chewed  up  and  swallowed  the  important  message  which  she  had  con' 
cealed  on  her.  If  this  had  been  discovered  she  would  have  been  shot  as 
a  spy.  She  was  imprisoned  at  New  Bern  and  while  there  an  attempt 
was  made  on  her  life  by  the  administering  of  chloroform  through  her 
prison  window. 

Friends  worked  hard  to  free  her,  but  without  success,  but  at  length 
she  sent  for  some  influential  men  in  New  Bern  whom  she  knew  were 
traitors,  telling  them  if  she  were  brought  to  trial  she  would  disclose  things 
that  would  cause  them  to  suffer.  So  their  influence  was  brought  to 
bear  with  the  Federal  authorities  and  she  was  released  without  a  trial. 
The  name  of  Emmeline  Pigott  is  held  in  the  highest  veneration,  and  the 
Morehead  City  Chapter  of  the  U.  D   C.  is  named  in  her  honor.     To 


of  the  Confederacy  17 

the  end  of  her  eighty  years  no  cause  was  so  dear  to  her  as  the  Con' 
federacy. 


Heroines  of  New  Bern 


"Where  the  dar\ening  storm  of  danger  gathers  round, 

There  woman,  with  undaunted  faith  and  courage  brave,  is  found." 

When  New  Bern  was  captured  by  the  Yankees,  the  women  who  had 
not  escaped,  suffered  greatly.  The  story  of  New  Bern's  capture,  and 
the  suffering  of  its  women,  is  told  by  Mrs.  F.  C.  Roberts,  a  daughter  of 
Mr.  J.  C.  Cole,  one  of  the  most  loyal  of  Confederates.  Mrs. Roberts 
says,  "Those  who  remained  in  New  Bern  could  hear  nothing  from  their 
loved  ones,  outside  the  town,  (as  the  Federals  were  occupying  New 
Bern)  except  through  the  underground  mail." 

With  all  their  vigilance  the  Federal  troops  could  not  discover  who 
delivered  this  mail,  and  who  received  it.  Governor  Stanley,  an  old 
personal  and  political  friend  of  her  father  (Mr.  J.  L.  Cole)  obtained 
permission  for  Mrs.  Alexander  Taylor  to  go  freely  about  the  town  and 
to  visit  the  prisioners  and  relieve  the  wants  of  the  poor  sufferers  con' 
fined  in  the  prisons.  She  had  many  false  pockets  and  somehow  into 
them  the  daily  mail  crept. 

On  one  occasion  a  Federal  officer  joined  her  in  the  street;  he  said, 
"Mrs.  Taylor,  it  is  very  strange,  but  we  cannot  find  out  how  or  where 
this  Rebel  mail  comes  in  or  who  receives  it."  Her  heart  was  in  her 
throat;  she  thought  her  last  hour  had  come,  and  she  would  be  shot  as 
a  spy,  but  she  determined  to  die  game,  so  she  said,  "Why  I  receive  it  and 
at  this  moment  my  pockets  are  full  of  letters;  would  you  like  to  see 
them?"  It  passed  as  a  joke,  but  it  was  rather  risky,  and  had  they  been 
found  on  her,  her  life  would  have  paid  the  forfeit. 

Mrs.  Taylor  visited  the  prison  daily  and  ministered  to  the  unfortun' 
ates  there — often  going  hungry  that  she  might  have  some  delicacy  to 
take  them.  She  was  called  "The  Prison  Mother,"  and  many  a  poor 
captive  called  her  blessed.  Among  these  was  a  lady  from  Beaufort,  who 
barely  escaped  being  shot  as  a  spy.  (This  was  Miss  Emmeline  Pigott, 
whose  thrilling  story,  has  been  recorded). 


18  N.orth  Carolina  Women 

Mrs.  M.  C.  Cole  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  accustomed  all  their  lives  to  ease 
and  luxury,  tended  their  own  gardens,  rolled  the  wheelbarrow,  dug  with 
Bpade  and  hoe,  raised  vegetables  for  their  own  tables  and  to  sell.  And 
while  doing  this  the  Federal  soldiers  sat  on  the  fences  and  ridiculed 
them,  calling  them  "gal"  and  "aunty"  and  "mama." 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Carraway  Howland  also  rendered  valuable  aid  when 
New  Bern  was  captured,  in  sending  out  specifications  of  the  forts  the 
Yankees  were  making  and  other  information  to  our  troops.  She  would 
secret  the  paper  in  a  small  roll  inside  the  bone  of  a  ham  which  her  small 
daughter  and  son  carried  down  the  river  to  the  Confederates.  The  little 
girl  would  present  a  bouquet  of  flowers  to  the  Captain  of  the  Federal 
gunboat  and  she  would  be  allowed  to  pass  without  being  searched. 

This  splendid  woman,  who  had  studied  medicine  with  her  father, 
doctored  the  Confederate  prisoners  ill  with  yellow  fever  in  New  Bern, 
and  not  one  of  her  patients  died,  though  the  Yankee  doctors  lost  hun' 
dreds.  She  was  a  prison  angel,  secretely  clothing  and  feeding  these  des- 
titute sufferers. 

These  New  Bern  women  not  only  suffered  persecution  by  the  Yan- 
kees, but  went  through  a  terrific  scourge  of  yellow  fever,  caused  by 
quantities  of  meat  being  allowed  to  decay  on  the  scorching  wharves. 
They  nursed  the  ill  and  then  assited  in  burying  the  dead.  Mrs.  Julius 
Lewis  (before  her  marriage,  Abigail  Hart)  kept  Northern  officers  in  her 
home  to  get  from  them  news  for  the  Confederacy.  If  she  had  been 
found  out  she  would  have  been  shot  as  a  spy. 

Mrs.  A.  M.  Meekins  ran  the  blocade  into  New  Bern  to  ascertain  for 
General  Lee  the  exact  strength  of  the  Federal  forces  there  before  the 
Confederate's  attack  on  Fort  Fisher.  isguised  as  a  country  woman 
with  a  bale  of  cotton  to  sell,  with  her  ready  wit  she  secured  the  desired 
information  and  passed  safely  back  through  the  Union  lines. 


Among  the  splendid  women  of  New  Berne  Miss  Mary  Attmore  is  an 
outstanding  figure.  Not  only  for  her  memorial  work  after  the  war,  but 
for  her  indomitable  courage  and  forceful  character  during  the  capture 
of  New  Berne.  When  this  town  had  been  taken  by  the  Yankees  Miss 
Attmore,  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  its  women,  was  kept  as  one  of 
the  hostages  to  insure  the  safety  of  the  Federals  within,  as  they  were  in 
constant  fear  that  New  Berne  would  be  fired  on  by  troops  without.     In 


of  the  Confederacy  19 

spite  of  the  protests  of  her  relations  Miss  Attmore  refused  to  leave  her 
home,  but  lived  alone  without  fear.  Twice  she  was  almost  choked  to 
death  by  "bummers"  who  were  intent  to  plunder,  but  miraculously  es' 
Caped.  In  the  grey  of  an  early  morning  she  awoke  to  find  several  Yan' 
kees  digging  up  the  graves  in  the  family  burial  ground  on  her  estate. 
Without  hesitation  or  calling  for  help,  this  independent  woman  with 
great  dignity  of  learning,  appeared  amongst  the  marauders,  commanding 
them  to  put  down  their  shovels  at  once,  exclaiming  "Is  it  possible  that 
you  could  be  be  guilty  of  such  a  dastardly  trick  as  to  dig  open  the  graves 
of  our  ancestors !"  The  men,  to  the  amazement  of  neighbors  who  wit' 
nessed  the  scene,  not  only  removed  their  caps,  but  began  replacing  the 
earth  on  the  graves  and  departed,  leaving  this  free  spoken  and  courageous 
woman  in  possession  of  her  dead. 

By  her  ready  wit,  free  speech  and  fearlessness  she  compelled  the  ad' 
miration  of  her  captors  and  was  allowed  greater  liberty  than  the  other 
residents  of  New  Berne. 

Though  a  cultured  and  refined  Southern  woman,  Miss  Mary  Attmore 
possessed  characteristics  of  a  general  in  her  command  of  the  most  terrible 
situations,  showing  the  spirit  of  her  revolutionary  ancestor,  Thomas  Att' 
more. 

The  President  of  the  North  Carolina  Division  United  Daughters  of 
the  Confederacy,  Mrs.  J.  Dolph  Long,  Hannah  Attmore  by  birth,  is  the 
great  niece  of  this  intrepid  woman  of  the  sixties. 


"God  shares  the  gift  of  head  and  heart, 
And  crowns  blest  woman  with  a  hero's  part. 


There  is  an  unknown  heroine  of  New  Berne  whose  intrepid  daring 
is  worthy  of  record,  though  her  name  was  not  disclosed  by  Col.  Stephen 
D.  Pool,  the  narrator  of  this  incident  in  Clark's  N.  C.  Histories.  Col. 
Pool  says  that  in  November  '62,  he  was  ordered  to  Trenton,  N.  C,  to 
capture  a  Federal  train.  In  the  early  morning  hours  an  elderly  country 
man  dashed  up  on  a  fastly  ridden  horse  and  delivered  to  him  a  paper, 
which  on  being  opened,  appeared  to  be  blank.  The  rider  said  that  a 
young  girl  had  ridden  alone  to  his  door  in  the  darkness  of  night  and  dc 


20  Tsjorth  Carolina  Women 

livered  this  note  and  told  him  to  take  it  at  full  speed  to  any  Confederate 
officer  at  Trenton,  as  it  contained  important  information. 

Col.  Pool  applied  to  the  seemingly  blank  sheet  of  paper,  a  hot  iron, 
the  heat  bringing  out  the  writing  (probably  written  with  milk.).  It  said 
that. the  Federal  General  had  returned  to  New  Berne  two  days  sooner 
than  anticipated  and  was  to  leave  that  very  morning  with  a  force  ac- 
curately  detailed  on  the  paper,  on  an  expedition  to  burn  the  railroad 
bridge  at  Weldon.  The  object  of  Col.  Poors  plans  being  thus  frustrated, 
he  returned  at  once  to  Kinston  and  gave  the  officer  in  command  the 
information  which  he  had  secured  through  the  daring  of  this  loyal  girl 
of  the  Confederacy,  Such  an  array  of  troops  was  placed  in  front  and 
upon  the  flanks  of  the  Federal  General  as  to  cause  him  to  rapidly  retrace 
his  steps. 

The  lady  requested  that  her  name  not  be  told,  but  it  was  found  that 
she  was  one  most  tenderly  reared  and  very  young,  and  her  night  ride  at 
great  personal  risk  to  convey  this  important  information,  was  greatly  ap- 
preciated by  the  Confederates.  This  is  the  only  story  of  a  woman  of 
the  Confederacy  recorded  in  the  State's  Regimental  Histories  amongst  the 
daring  deeds  of  the  men  of  North  Carolina. 

The  little  five  year  old  daughter  of  Mrs.  Corbett,  Mary  Bailey  Mur- 
phy, with  unusual  foresight  for  a  child,  hearing  that  Sherman's  soldiers 
were  coming,  had  begged  her  mother  to  let  her  hide  her  own  silver  spoons 
and  forks  (old  family  silver,  which  had  been  given  her  by  her  grand- 
mother.) So  this  plucky  little  girl  of  the  sixties  dug  up  her  box  which 
had  been  buried  beside  that  of  her  mother's,  and  hid  it  herself,  and  this 
was  the  only  hidden  treasure  that  the  hummers  did  not  find.  This  silver 
is  one  of  her  treasured  possessions  today,  this  little  girl  being  now  Mrs. 
Beaman,  the  beloved  Superintendent  of  the  North  Carolina  Confederate 
Woman's  Home. 


of  the  Confederacy  21 


WOMEN  PREPARE  FOR  WAR 

"And  when  our  rights  were  threatened,  the  cry  rose  near  and  far." 


Every  community  had  its  soldiers  aid  and  knitting  societies  and  each 
mother,  wife,  sweetheart  and  sister  looked  after  her  own  dear  ones  on 
the  field,  and  constantly  sent  comfortable  clothing  and  boxes  of  food  to 
them  from  their  own  depleted  larders. 

We  cannot  mention  many  of  these  societies,  but  facts  concerning  some 
have  been  secured. 


Recollections  of  Fayetteville  Women 


After  the  United  States  Arsenal  at  Fayetteville  was  taken  by  the  Cum' 
berland  County  Militia,  April  22,  1861,  the  women  of  Fayetteville  re' 
turned  to  their  serious  work  of  fininshing  the  equipment  of  their  soldiers 
for  the  terrible  work  before  them,  that  of  WAR.  A  reminiscence  writ' 
ten  by  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Tillinghast  just  after  the  war  ended,  gives  us  a 
vivid  picture  of  how  the  young  girls  did  their  part  in  the  war'work.  She 
says:  "The  school  girls  were  wild;  no  use  was  it  to  mention  books  to  them; 
it  was  their  plain  duty  to  sew  for  the  soldiers,  and  sew  they  did,  though  I 
must  say  that  some  of  their  work  might  have  been  criticized  by  particular 
persons.  There  were  dress  parade  suits  and  fatigue  suits  to  be  made  as 
well  as  underclothing  suitable  for  camp  life — tents,  haversacks,  canteens 
to  be  covered,  in  fact  every  part  of  the  outfit  except  the  knapsacks,  was 
made  by  the  volunteer  labor  of  the  women.  They  assembled  in  bees  from 
house  to  house,  where  the  most  experienced  ladies  could  oversee  the  dif- 
ficult parts  of  the  work,  such  as  the  making  of  the  coats  which  could 
be  trusted  to  no  novices.  And  when  our  first  two  companies  left  us, 
we  felt  that  they  were  as  well  provided  for  as  soldiers  could  expect  to  be 
and  we  girls  were  proud  to  feel  that  we  had  done  our  part  as  well  as 
school  girls  could  be  expected  to. 


22  Worth  Carolina  Women 

What  wonderful  triumphs  of  genius  were  then  achieved  by  the  ladies 
in  the  "reconstruction"  of  old  dresses,  in  "making  claise  auld  claise  look 
as  maist  as  weels'  the  new."  How  garrets  were  ransacked  for  old  dis- 
carded garments,  that  were  brought  out  and  surprised  by  having  a  fresh 
lease,  on  life  given  them  in  new  characters.  What  nice  bonnets  were 
made  of  old  black  silk  dress  bodies,  trimmed  with  goose ,  feathers,  and 
lined  with  red  or  blue  satin  from  the  lining  of  old  coat  sleeves,  hats  con- 
structed  of  old  discarded  ones  of  feathers,  trimmed  with  old  coat's  col' 
lars  and  cock's  plumes  cut  off  the  rooster  in  the  yard.  Space  fails  me  to 
tell  of  all  the  "shifts"  that  were  made — not  that  we  thought  so  much  of 
our  personal  appearance  as  in  happier  times,  but  women  will  always  try 
to  "look  decent"  at  least,  and  young  girls  will  not  often  be  found  too 
sad  to  refuse  to  considerthe  set  of  a  dress  or  the  becomingness  of  a  hat. 

But  through  all  the  privations,  real  or  relative,  not  one  of  us  ever 
thought  of  the  possibilities  of  giving  up.  To  the  bitter  end  we  believed 
firmly  in  the  justice  and  final  success  of  the  cause,  and  even  after  the 
devastation  of  Sherman's  army  we  did  not  lose  hope,  but  thought  "some 
way"  would  be  found  out  of  the  difficulty. 

The  surrender  of  Lee  came  upon  us  like  a  thunderclap.  We  refused 
to  believe  it.  "Lee  surrendered!"  "Lee  would  never  surrender."  Wo- 
men are  so  unreasonable,  they  can't  see  what  they  don't  want  to  see 
really.  We  begged  the  soldiers  not  to  give  up.  It  could  not  be  possible 
that  the  South  was  subdued.  We  wept  and  wrung  our  hands.  "March 
on  to  death  or  victory!"  was  our  cry. 

The  war  had  ended  as  we  had  never  believed  possible;  all  the  days  of 
agonizing  suspense  our  wives,  mothers,  sisters,  and  sweethearts  had  en- 
dured, while  their  loved  ones  were  hourly  exposed  to  deadly  danger,  the 
nights  of  sleepless  anxiety,  wishing  yet  dreading  for  the  morning — all 
the  privations,  self-denials,  losses,  had  been  in  vain.  All  the  precious 
lives  had  been  sacrificed,  and  defeat  at  last,  overcome  by  overwhelming 
numbers.  Desolation  met  our  eyes  all  around.  What  was  lurking 
among  us.  The  earth  seemed  turned  upside  down,  and  chaos  seemed  to 
reign. 

But  not  long  did  North  Carolina  lie  weeping  in  the  dust.  'Twas  not 
in  her  nature.     She  gathered  herself  up  and  went  to  work  again. 

But  though  our  generation  may  not  realise  it,  I  believe  we  can  see  the 
dawning  of  a  new  day,  and  our  children  will  be  better  and  nobler  men 


of  the  Confederacy  23 

and  women  for  all  we  have  gone  through  and  we  will  be  able  to  under- 
stand that  the  war  was  not  in  vain." 


Miss  Alice  Campbell,  another  young  woman  active  in  the  war-work 
of  Fayetteville,  gives  an  account  of  the  "Return  of  the  Bethel  Horses"  of 
Cumberland  County  and  the  welcome  they  received  from  the  citizens  of 
this  old  Scotch  settlement. 

"Our  military  companies,  the  honored  old  Fayetteville  Independent 
Light  Infantry,  (with  their  motto  emblazoned  on  their  flag,  "He  that 
hath  no  stomach  to  this  fight  let  him  depart")  and  the  LaFayette  Light 
Infantry,  with  ranks  full  of  true  men,  were  coming  home  after  their  en- 
listment for  the  first  six  months  of  the  war.  We  women,  thinking  this 
was  the  end  of  the  war,  had  been  making  preparations  for  two  weeks  to 
welcome  our  boys  home.  Oh,  the  happy  hearts  and  the  tears  of  joy  that 
were  shed  over  our  dear  boys  in  Gray,  who  had  returned  in  safety  to 
their  loved  ones.  This  was  of  short  duration,  for  every  one  of  them  went 
into  the  service  again,  and  the  terrible  struggle  began  in  earnest. 

"We  women,  spun,  wove,  and  knit  thousands  of  socks  and  gloves  for 
our  soldiers.  (Note :  Miss  Campbell  used  the  same  knitting  needles  for 
the  boys  of  the  World  War,  that  she  used  for  the  boys  in  Gray.  She 
was  the  president  of  the  Young  Woman's  Knitting  Society  in  the  sixties.) 

I  had  a  calico  dress  for  State  occasions  for  which  I  paid  ten  dollars  a 
yard  and  shoes  that  cost  one  hundred  dollars  a  pair,  we  paid  ten  dollars 
a  pound  for  sugar  and  tea,  and  later  it  could  not  be  bought  for  any  price. 
The  women  were  busy  from  early  morning  till  dewy  eve. 

As  the  years  passed  so  slowly  and  our  forces  were  being  diminished 
daily  our  faith  was  still  firm  that  victory  would  at  last  be  ours." 


Early  in  the  war  a  number  of  ladies  of  Fayetteville  formed  the  "Cum- 
berland County  War  Association."  The  minutes  of  this  organization 
show  a  wonderful  amount  of  work  accomplished,  as  it  included  as- 
sistance to  the  needy  families  of  the  soldiers  at  the  front.  Many  valuable 
contributions  from  adjoining  counties  were  received  and  dispensed  by 
the  women  of  Cumberland. 

A  large  amount  of  socks  was  dispensed  through  the  association  con- 
tributed by  the  "Young  Ladies  Knitting  Society"  and  the  "Juvenile  Knit- 


24  T^orth  Carolina  'Women 

ting  Society."  The  children  were  not  idle  in  doing  their  bit.  The  girls- 
from  ten  to  thirteen  years  old  knitted  socks  and,  if  they  didn't  finish  at 
least  one  pair  every  two  weeks,  they  were  fined  ten  cents.  Two  little 
boys  belonged  to  this  society  and  each  one  knitted  a  pair  of  socks  every 
two  weeks. 


Letter  From  the  Front 

This  unique  letter  is  an  expression  of  appreciation  from  the  "boys  in 
gray:" 

"Camp  near  Petersburg, 

"February  16th,  1864. 

"The  members  of  the  third  company  Battalion,  Washington  Artillery 
of  New  Orleans,  embrace  this  opportunity  of  tendering  to  the  "Young 
Ladies  Knitting  Society"  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  their  thanks  for  the  recent 
present  of  sixtyfive  pair  of  socks. 

"Exiled  from  home  as  we  are,  and  debarred  by  the  exigencies  of  war 
from  the  attention  and  care  of  the  loved  ones  at  home  such  attentions  are 
peculiarly  gratifying  and  when  the  grim  visage  war  shall  hide  his  wrink- 
led front  and  halycon  days  of  peace  shall  have  returned  to  bless  our  dis- 
tracted  country,  we  shall  tell  our  mothers  and  sisters  of  their  goodness 
and  they  will  unite  us  in  thanking  them. 

"For  all  the  soc\s  the  maids  have  made, 

Our  than\s  for  all  the  brave, 
And  honored  be  your  pious  trade. 

The  soldiers  sole  to  save." 


Women  of  Wilmington 


"And  all  we  \now  is  that  they  gave 
A  sweetness  to  the  days  now  dead, 
For  they  were  \ind  and  they  were  brave. 


Mrs.  Armand  J.  DeRosset,  of  Wilmington,  (born  Eliza  Lord)  was 
one  of  our  women  of  the  sixties  who  was  endowed  with  such  administra- 


of  the  Confederacy  25 

tive  ability  that  it  was  often  said  of  her  "She  should  have  been  a  general." 
Under  her  direction  the  Soldiers  Aid  Society  was  early  organized,  and 
for  four  years  did  its  work  with  unabated  energy.  While  her  six  sons 
were  fighting,  Mrs.  DeRosset  assisted  her  husband  in  his  medical  work, 
nursing  the  sick,  being  keenly  active  to  the  needy.  With  the  valuable 
assistance  of  the  women  of  Wilmington,  (especially  Mrs.  Alfred  Martin 
who  was  Vice-President)  large  supplies  were  made  and  kept  on  hand. 
Canvas  bags  were  made  to  be  filled  with  sand  and  used  in  the  fortifica- 
tions at  Fort  Fisher.  Canteens  were  covered,  haversacks  made,  also 
cartridges  for  rifles,  and  powder  bags  for  the  great  columbiads  were  made 
by  the  hundreds. 

Mrs.  DeRosset  had  a  large  room  in  her  own  home  fittted  up  a»  a 
store  room,  seizing  every  chance  to  secure  supplies  through  the  blocade. 
Many  a  soldier  blessed  these  women  for  comforts  bestowed  on  them. 
Men  still  live  who  treasure  the  War  Bibles  given  them,  as  among  their 
most  valuable  possessions. 

Mrs.  DeRosset "s  ability  to  overcome  difficulties  in  getting  all  she 
needed  for  the  men  was  the  constant  wonder  of  those  who  assisted  her. 
The  following  is  an  incident  of  her  executive  power. 

After  the  first  attack  of  Fort  Fisher  the  garrison,  in  great  peril,  was 
to  be  reinforced  with  Junior  Reserves.  The  wires  brought  the  news 
that  in  a  few  hours  they  would  arrive,  hungry  and  footsore.  Mrs. 
DeRosset  was  asked  if  the  ladies  could  feed  them,  the  ready  reply  came, 
"Of  course  we  can."  And  through  the  energy  and  resource  of  herself 
and  assistants,  she  proved  equal  to  the  task. 

They  nursed  through  the  harrowing  scenes  of  hospital  life,  and  ten- 
derly buried  the  dead.  When  all  was  over  this  band  of  faithful  women, 
in  July,  '66,  organized  a  permanent  memorial  association  with  the  pur- 
pose of  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  names  and  graves  of  the  gallant  sol- 
diers who  are  buried  in  and  near  Wilmington. 

The  sick  soldiers  in  the  hospital  at  Fort  Fisher  were  supplied  with 
nourishing  food  and  nursed  by  women  who  corageously  remained  there. 
The  wife  of  Major  Stevenson  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Sanders,  were 
among  those  who  helped  to  make  these  Confederates  more  comfortable, 
though  in  constant  personal  danger  themselves.  The  Soldier's  Aid  So- 
ciety in  Wilmington  did  a  wonderful  work  for  this  hospital,  supplying 
clothes,  covering  and  quantities  of  provisions. 


26  T^lorth  Carolina  Women 

When  Wilmington  was  occupied  by  the  Yankees  the  Rev.  A.  A. 
Watson  was  ordered  to  change  the  prayer  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  for  the  Confederate  States  and  to  pray  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States  instead  of  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States.  This 
the  rector  refused  to  do.  Whereupon  Genral  Schofeld  seised  the  Church 
buildings,  had  all  the  pews  and  the  pulpit  torn  out  and  removed,  and  the 
building  converted  into  a  hospital.  Also  the  Methodist  church  on  Front 
street  was  seised  and  turned  over  to  a  negro  congregation. 

It  was  on  Ash- Wednesday  that  the  Yankees  turned  the  congregation 
out  of  St.  James  Episcopal  church.  The  following  lines  (the  79th  Psalm) 
were  written  on  that  day  in  the  Bible  of  Mrs.  William  Lord.  "The 
heathen  have  entered  our  land  they  have  spoiled  our  heritage,  they  have 
closed  the  doors  of  our  sanctuary,  shut  the  mouths  of  our  prophets,  de' 
spoiled  us  of  our  privileges,  refused  to  obey  the  voice  of  God  who  haa 
said — 'Call  the  people  together  proclaim  a  solemn  feast;  our  people  weep, 
the  ministers  sigh.'  And  our  cry  is  O  Lord  subdue  our  enemies,  restore 
unto  us  our  poor  suffering  stricken  servants,  the  blessed  means  of  grace 
and  let  not  our  sins  cry  for  vengeance  against  us.  Give  us  grace  and 
faith  to  have  submission  to  Thy  holy  will  and  so  improve  these  sore  af- 
flictions that  they  tend  to  Thy  honor  and  glory  and  the  good  of  our 
immortal  souls.     Amen.     Eliza  Hill  Lord." 


Mrs.  Robert  H.  Cowan,  of  Wilmington,  suffered  a  most  thrilling  ex- 
perience  while  refugeeing  near  Laurinburg.  Surrounded  by  Yankees, 
with  two  of  her  children  at  the  point  of  death,  she  was  subjected  to  every 
conceivable  indignity.  They  pulled  the  rings  from  her  fingers  while 
holding  her  sick  child  and  kicked  the  cradle  of  the  other  one  with  the 
brutal  remark,  "That  one  is  dead  already,"  while  he  rested  his  loaded 
gun  against  Mrs.  Cowan's  chair.  The  gang  of  marauders  yelling  and 
cursing  slapped  the  face  of  the  aged  grandmother  as  he  pulled  the  watch 
chain  from  her  neck.  Another  ruffian  threw  his  arm  around  a  young 
daughter,  saying  he  had  just  come  out  of  the  penitentiary,  which  they 
could  well  believe.  With  the  sick  babies,  Mrs.  Cowan,  with  her  mother 
and  young  daughters  (afterwards  Mrs.  Junius  Davis,  James  I.  Metts,  and 
Louis  DeRosset)  escaped  during  the  night  to  an  old  hut,  where  they  lay 
hid     while     the  negro  regiments  and  greater  part  of  Sherman's  army 


of  the  Confederacy  Tt 

passed.     Just  the  terrible  experiences  of  this  one  family  would  be  suf' 
ficient  to  show  what  the  women  of  the  '60's  endured. 


Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe  in  his  Monumental  History  of  North  Carolina,  gives 
many  pathetic  incidents  of  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  women  of  our 
State  during  this  critical  and  heartrending  period.  His  story  of  North 
Carolina  as  a  scene  of  warfare  in  the  Confederacy  is  of  gripping  interest 
and  from  it  we  have  a  vivid  picture  of  those  days  when  the  women  be- 
hind  the  lines  showed  their  unflinching  bravery.  Capt.  Ashe  mentions 
the  fact  that  Sherman  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  December  16,  1864,  (taken 
from  the  Great  March)  by  Sherman's  Aide-de-camp  Major  Nichols, 
said:  "We  came  right  along,  living  on  turkeys,  chickens,  pigs,  bringing 
along  our  wagons  loaded  as  they  started  with  bread,  etc.  I  suppose  Jeff 
Davis  will  have  to  feed  the  people  of  Georgia  now  instead  of  collecting 
provisions  of  them  to  feed  his  armies. 

"The  amount  of  burning,  stealing  and  plundering  of  our  army  makes 
one  feel  ashamed  of  it." 

Major  Nichols  goes  on  to  say  in  the  Story  of  the  Great  March,  "Al- 
most every  inch  of  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  the  dwellings  was  poked  by 
ramrods,  pierced  by  sabres  or  upturned  by  spades.  It  was  comical  to 
see  a  group  of  red  bearded  veterans  punching  the  unoffending  earth. 
Nothing  escaped  the  observation  of  the  sharp  witted  soldiers." 

Capt.  Ashe  tells  of  a  visit  of  General  Sherman,  while  in  Fayetteville 
in  March  '65,  at  the  home  of  Colonel  Frederick  Childs,  the  commadant 
of  the  Arsenal.  There  resided  the  Colonel's  sister  Jennie,  Mrs.  Ander- 
son and  his  aged  mother,  from  whose  house  at  Fortress  Monroe  Sherman 
had  been  married.  The  venerable  lady  was  somewhat  afflicted  with 
palsy.  When  the  General  entered  he  said:  "Ah,  this  is  no  place  for 
you.  You  must  go  to  General  Woodbury's  (one  of  her  daughters  was 
the  wife  of  the  distinguished  engineer  General  Woodbury  of  the  United 
States  Army).  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  here.  But  as  to  that  dam  little 
Fred  Childs — if  I  catch  him  I'll  hang  him  as  high  as  Haman."  And, 
then,  in  a  wild  burst  of  passion,  he  exclaimed:  "I  come  through  now 
creating  devastation.  If  that  does  not  answer  I  will  come  through  with 
fire  and  sword,  and  slay  the  people  and  leave  desolation;  and  then  if 
they  do  not  submit,  I  will  come  through  again,  and  leave  nothing  alive 


28  Worth  Carolina  Women 

and  sow  the  ground  with  salt."     And  the  palsied  widow  of  General 
Childs  looked  on  aghast  in  horror  at  the  spectacle. 


The  Yankee  troopers  came  upon  the  home  of  Mrs.  Duncan  Murchi- 
son  in  Cumberland  County  and  in  spite  of  protests,  burst  in  the  room 
of  a  young  girl,  who  was  in  the  last  stages  of  typhoid  fever,  the  child 
was  taken  from  the  bed  in  which  she  lay  and  died  while  the  bed  and  the 
room  were  being  seached  for  money  and  jewelry.  Although  over  seventy 
years  old  Mr.  Murchison,  in  spite  of  the  pleadings  of  the  women  of  his 
family,  was  dragged  half  clad  to  the  near-by  swamps,  where  he  was  com- 
pelled to  stay  until  the  raiders  had  left.  Every  act  of  Vandalism  was 
committed  on  this  plantation,  but  the  Murchison  women  bore  it  all  with 
heroic  fortitude. 


Mrs.  John  McDaniel  of  Cumberland  County  not  only  had  her  home 
burned  by  these  soldiers  but  her  husband  was  carried  out  into  the  wods 
and  hanged  to  a  tree  in  order  to  make  him  give  up  secrets  of  his  valu- 
ables. His  death  was  prevented  by  some  of  his  faithful  servants  and 
family,  who  rescued  him  from  this  terrible  fate. 

The  home  of  Mrs.  Thomas  McDaniel  in  this  same  community  was 
also  burned  after  the  soldiers  had  taken  it  as  their  sleeping  place  for  the 
night,  this  was  certainly  a  very  ungracious  way  of  returning  "hospitali- 
ty" (?)■  Both  of  these  homes  were  ransacked  and  the  furniture  and  all 
valuables  demolished  or  stolen.  The  Yankees  as  they  set  fire  to  this 
residence  were  heard  to  exclaim  exultingly:  "Well  we've  burnt  up  an- 
other home  of  a  d rich  old  rebel." 


A  most  unusual  tribute  is  given  to  a  plucky  woman  of  the  sixties  of 
Wake  County,  being  an  inscription  on  her  tombstone.  She  lies  buried 
in  a  little  churchyard  at  Fuquay  Springs,  near  Raleigh.  This  is  the 
inscription : 


of  the  Confederacy  29 

"Here  lies  Mrs.  Eliza  Ann  Jones, 
A  devoted  Christian  Mother, 
Who  whipped  Shermans  bummers 
While  trying  to  ta\e  her  dinner 
Pot,  which  contained  a  hamhone  being 
Coo\ed  for  her  soldier'boy ." 


Women  of  Old  Hillsboro 


"There's  a  pedestal  high  in  the  hall  of  my  heart, 
For  the  Women  of  Dixie  Land, 
Who  nobly  and  proudly  played  their  part, 
With  a  courage  superbly  grand." 


The  women  of  Hillsboro  were  among  the  most  active  of  our  State. 
The  late  Col.  Benehan  Cameron  loved  to  recall  how  as  a  little  boy  on  his 
pony  he  would  assist  his  mother,  Mrs.  Paul  Cameron,  an  ardent  South' 
erner  and  daughter  of  the  distinguished  Thomas  Ruffin,  in  acting  as 
messenger  boy  for  the  Ladies  Aid  Society.  Though  too  young  to  enter 
the  army  (which  he  longed  to  do)  this  youngster  did  his  part  and  always 
felt  that  he  belonged  to  the  Veterans 

Miss  Rebecca  Cameron  (Honorary  Historian  of  the  North  Carolina 
Division  U.  D.  C.)  gives  this  glimpse  of  the  women's  work  in  Hillsboro 
during  the  war: 

"Mrs.  William  A.  Graham,  (wife  of  ex-Governor  Graham,)  who 
gave  five  sons  to  the  Confederacy,  was  president  of  the  soldier's  aid  SO' 
ciety  of  Orange  County.  I  think  Mrs.  Kate  Roulhac  (daughter  of  Hon. 
Paul  Cameron)  was  vice-president,  and  Miss  Annie  Roulhac  was  the  sec- 
retary. Our  records  were  all  kept  in  the  Court  House,  and  when  the 
Yankees  came  they  burned  all  of  them.  The  aid  society  used  to  meet 
every  week  at  the  Court  House  and  work  for  the  soldiers  and  their  de- 
pendent families.  A  committee  was  formed  of  which  my  mother,  Mrs. 
William  Cameron,  was  chairman  and  executive,  of  ladies  who  would 
send  food  for  the  troop  trains  as  they  passed  by  the  Hillsboro  depot.  A 
committee  of  ladies  would  go  to  the  depot  with  their  servants  and  board 


30  7<iorth  Carolina  Women 

the  train,  and  feed  the  men  who  had  their  tin  cups  and  plates  in  their 
haversacks.  Mr.  Tom  Webb  was  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Rail' 
road,  and  he  gave  us  a  standing  pass  for  all  the  trains  passing  here.  After 
much  experience  of  the  difficulties  of  the  work,  my  mother  devised  the 
plan  of  going  down  to  Morrisviile  on  the  train  going  east,  and  feeding 
the  men  on  board,  then  getting  off  at  Morrisviile  with  baskets,  papers, 
etc.,  going  into  the  waiting  room  and  there  making  the  divisions  into 
separate  bundles,  and  on  our  way  back  to  Hillsboro  giving  the  packages 
to  the  men  on  board.  These  men  were  generally  sick  and  wounded, 
though  sometimes  they  were  being  transferred  to  other  places  or  com' 
mands.  Hillsboro  soon  became  known  as  a  feeding  station,  and  the  con' 
ductors  would  tell  us  how  eagerly  the  men  would  inquire  when  they 
would  reach  this  town.  Mrs.  W.  A.  Graham  always  sent  her  carriage 
and  her  servant  to  carry  us  to  the  depot  and  back  home.  Our  horses 
had  gone  into  the  service  with  father's  battery,  THE  ORANGE  LIGHT 
ARTILLERY.  A  four-gun  battery  was  made  out  of  the  bells  of  the 
Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  and  Baptist  churches.  These  bells  were  sent  to 
the  Tredefon  iron  works  in  Richmond  to  be  cast  into  cannon.  They  were 
said  to  be  the  finest  metal  sent  to  the  iron  works. 

My  oldest  brother,  Donald  Moore  Cameron,  enlisted  at  the  age  of 
fourteen,  in  father's  battery. 

In  the  midst  of  the  sorrow  and  the  work  for  our  soldiers,  when  the 
men  came  home  on  furlough  or  were  stationed  near  us,  we  girls  laughed, 
danced,  rode  and  sang  with  our  boys.  We  bore  ourselves  with  a  gay 
high  courage,  though  often  we  were  starving  at  home,  even  as  they  were 
starving  at  the  front." 


Another  glimpse  of  Hillsboro  in  the  sixties  is  given  me  by  that  dis- 
tinguished  Christian  educator  of  today,  Mrs.  Lucy  H.  Robertson,  of 
Greensboro,  whose  mother,  Mrs.  {Catherine  Watkins  Owen,  was  active 
in  the  soldiers  aid  society  of  Hillsboro.  Mrs.  Robertson  says,  "I  was  a 
very  young  girl  in  Hillsboro  at  the  time  of  the  war,  though  old  enough 
to  be  interested  m  what  was  going  on.  Hillsboro  was  intensely  south' 
em  in  its  sympathies,  and  every  woman  seemed  to  be  doing  all  in  her 
power  to  help  the  beloved  cause.     The  Soldiers  Aid  Society  was  very 


of  the  Confederacy  3 1 

active  in  all  kinds  of  war  work,  sewing  garments,  knitting  socks,  furnish- 
ing food,  looking  after  the  sick,  or  wounded  soldiers  passing  by  this  little 
town  on  the  trains  going  by  daily.  Committees  of  ladies  took  turns  in 
carrying  coffee,  buttermilk,  and  other  things  suitable  for  the  convales' 
cents  or  others  able  to  leave  the  hospitals  and  return  to  their  homes.  I 
used  to  go  with  my  mother  and  her  committee,  and  was  very  proud  to  be 
permitted  to  pour  the  buttermilk  into  tin  cups  so  eagerly  held  out  by  the 
weak  and  trembling  hands  to  receive  the  refreshing  drinks.  They  all 
seemed  so  appreciative  of  these  little  attentions — so  pitifully  little  com- 
pared  to  their  great  sacrifice.  Another  little  service  I,  and  other  young 
people,  were  permitted  to  render  was  converting  our  mother's  table  and 
bed  linens  into  lint  to  go  to  the  hospitals,  for  our  women  were  always 
alert  to  everything  that  might  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  our  soldiers. 
Many  were  the  boxes  packed  in  Hillsboro  by  that  Aid  Society  to  go  to 
the  front  to  add  something  to  the  comfort  of  our  brave  men.  As  I  re- 
member  her,  my  mother  was  a  tireless  worker,  with  many  other  of  like 
spirit  in  all  these  activities." 


Women  of  Goldsboro 

"Hurrah,  hurrah,  for  southern  rights,  hurrah.'' 


The  women  of  Goldsboro  saw  war  from  early  in  1862,  and  were  active 
in  their  soldiers  aid  hospital  work.  A  wayside  hospital  was  established 
here,  and  the  women  were  organized  in  committees  for  nursing.  Gen- 
eral  Gatlin  established  his  headquarters  at  Goldsboro,  so  the  girls  of  the 
town  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  young  Confederates  in  his  command. 

Several  battles  were  fought  around  this  section.  First  the  battle  of 
Kinston,  December  '62,  when  the  Federals  were  endeavoring  to  capture 
Goldsboro,  (where  was  won  the  last  Confederate  victory  in  the  war), 
then  the  fight  of  Whitehall  not  far  from  Goldsboro;  then  General  Fos- 
ter's raid  on  Goldsboro  itself.  The  result  of  all  this  fighting  was  to  fill 
Goldsboro  with  many  wounded  soldiers,  and  every  available  place  in  the 
city  was  used  by  the  women.     The  female  college  of  Goldsboro,  over- 


'■3  Worth  Carolina  Women 

flowed  with  the  sick  and  wounded,  the  young  girls  assisting  the  older 
ones  in  their  tender  administrations. 

The  town  was  again  occupied  by  the  Federals  when  Sherman's  army 
was  around  Bentonville  after  that  battle.  Here  was  enacted  the  same  acts 
of  destruction  as  characterized  all  of  Sherman's  march. 

Mrs.  John  Slocumb  of  Goldsboro,  one  of  the  "true  and  tried"  said 
that  it  was  heart-rending  to  daily  see  crowds  of  country  women  with 
their  babies  in  their  arms  coming  into  town  to  beg  food  and  shelter,  after 
Sherman's  raid.  Sherman  himself,  ordered  from  his  home  (so  that  he 
might  occupy  it)  an  aged  citizen  with  a  family  of  eighteen  children  and 
grandchildren,  most  of  them  females. 


Washington  Women 


A  "Military  Sewing  Society"  was  formed  on  the  23  rd  of  April,  1861, 
by  the  women  of  Washington,  N.  C,  with  Miss  M.  M.  Hoyt  as  presi- 
dent and  Miss  Margaret  De  Mille,  secretary.  Resolutions  were  adopted 
and  sent  to  the  Captain  of  each  company  of  their  county  to  confer  with 
the  ladies  as  to  the  most  efficient  and  immediate  services  they  could  ren- 
der and,  Resolved,  "That  the  ladies  highly  approve  of  the  course  the  gen- 
tlemen have  pursued  in  so  promptly  responding  to  the  needs  of  their 
country  and  preparing  to  fight  her  battles." 

The  following  note  to  Captain  Spannor  shows  the  solicitude  of  these 
women. 

'Should  there  still  be  members  of  your  company  not  suitably  provided 
for  you  will  very  much  oblige  the  ladies  by  making  known  to  them  their 
wants  and  we  will  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  them  our  prompt  at- 
tention. 

"Yours  with  great  respect,  Sir. 

M.  M.  Hoyt." 

The  following  incident  is  in  a  letter  of  General  W.  A.  Blount  of 
Beaufort,  written  by  his  nephew  Captain  Roman  of  Washington,  N.  C, 
he  says: 

"A  great  many,  perhaps  300,  of  the  Georgia  regiment  are  sick  with 
measles  and  typhoid  fever.     About  six  hospitals  have  been  taken  charge 


of  the  Confederacy  33 

of  by  the  ladies,  who  tend  the  sick  and  spare  no  pains.  Aunt  (the  late 
Miss  Patsy  B.  Blount)  has  taken  three  into  her  house,  and  nurses  them 
constantly.  She  generally  has  six  soldiers  to  eat  with  her — I  believe  she 
would  give  them  her  last  rag  of  clothes — and  the  other  ladies  are  not 
much  behind  her.  The  rooms  of  Miss  Fannie  Owen  are  used  as  a  hos- 
pital." 


Women  of  Mecklenburg  County 

(Where  last  meeting  of  Confederate  Cabinet  was  held) 


"Hold  up  your  heads,  indulge  no  fears, 

For  Dixie  swarms  with  volunteers. 

Fight  away,  fight  away,  fight  away  in  Dixie  Land." 


As  the  tales  of  suffering  poured  in  from  the  various  encampments, 
rousing  the  mothers,  wives  and  sweethearts  to  make  themselves  useful 
in  this  great  crisis,  the  women  of  Charlotte,  on  August  28th,  '61,  formed 
an  asociation  for  relief  and  aid,  (composed  of  sixtyfive  ladies)  called 
the  "Soldier's  Aid  Society  of  Charlotte,"  adopting  a  formal  constitution, 
which  is  a  most  interesting  document.  The  meetings  were  held  in  a  room 
given  by  Mrs.  J.  H.  Carson.  The  number  of  garments  made  during  the 
first  year  was  over  three  hundred,  which  was  a  large  amount  when  most 
of  the  work  was  by  hand.  This  society  distributed  thousands  of  dollars 
worth  of  goods,  not  only  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field  but  for  their  destitute 
families  at  home.  In  writing  of  this  work  Mrs.  M.  A.  Osborne  (one  of 
the  officers  of  this  Soldier's  Aid  Society)  says,  "May  the  light  diffused 
more  abundant  grow,  for  the  glory  dies  not  as  the  grief  is  past.'  Out 
of  this  society  later  in  the  sixties  was  formed  the  Ladies  Memorial  Asso- 
ciation,  with  Mrs.  Osborne  president,  and  Mrs.  John  Morehead,  secre- 
tary.  This  beautiful  service  to  our  Confederate  dead  has  been  carried 
on  by  the  daughters  of  these  patriotic  women. 

There  was  a  Confederate  Hospital  on  South  Tryon  Street,  in  Char- 
lotte,  on  the  site  of  the  old  fair  grounds,  which  buildings  were  used  to 
care  for  the  wounded  soldiers  in  the  spring  of  '65.     Many  died  there 


J4  T^orth  Carolina  Women 

and  were  buried  in  the  old  field  back  of  the  fair  grounds.  Some  time 
afterwards,  Mrs.  John  Wilkes  superintended  the  removal  of  their  bodies 
to  a  spot  in  Elmwood  Cemetery. 

A  meeting  of  the  Confederate  Cabinet  was  held  at  the  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wm.  F.  Phifer.  Mrs.  Phifer  was  hostess  to  General  Beaure' 
gard  and  his  staff  while  they  were  in  Charlotte  in  the  spring  of  '65,  and 
owing  to  the  illness  of  Mr.  Trenholm,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who 
was  also  a  guest  in  this  home,  the  cabinet  meeting  was  held  at  her  home. 

Mrs.  Phifer  kept  open  house  during  the  war,  and  was  active  in  every 
work  for  the  Confederacy,  many  notables  being  entertained  in  her  beauti- 
ful home. 

Mrs.  Wm.  White,  of  Charlotte,  not  only  gave  her  six  sons  for  the 
Confederacy,  but  gave  of  herself  and  her  means  to  the  cause.  She  was 
hostess  to  President  Jefferson  Davis,  and  his  escorts,  during  .their  stay 
in  Charlotte,  when  they  met  to  consult  at  to  the  best  course  to  pursue 
on  their  way  to  South  Carolina.  The  home  of  Mrs.  White  is  also  one 
of  the  notable  sights  of  the  "Queen  City." 

Charlotte  being  away  from  the  seat  of  war  and  not  in  the  path  of 
invaders  did  not  bear  the  brunt  of  the  Yankee  army  as  did  most  of  the 
larger  towns  farther  east  or  south.  However,  two  military  companies, 
the  Hornet's  Nest  and  the  Grays  kept  the  girls  in  a  state  of  excitement 
with  preparations  for  joining  the  Bethel  regiment.  The  Cadets  of  Col. 
D.  H.  Hill's  Military  Institute  at  Charlotte  were  busy  drilling  recruits 
from  the  adjoining  counties  and  the  Sixth  Regiment  was  encamped  there. 
So  the  women  had  their  time  and  thoughts  full  in  work  for  the  soldiers. 
Charlotte  was  considered  a  safe  place  from  the  Yankees,  so  constantly 
people  from  all  over  the  lower  part  of  North  Carolina  and  South  Caro- 
lina began  to  flock  there  as  a  haven  of  refuge.  This  gave  added  duties 
for  the  women  of  this  fine  community. 

One  of  the  splendid  women  of  Charlotte  was  Mrs.  Robert  Burwell, 
(Margaret  Robertson)  who  not  only  gave  her  six  sons  to  the  Con- 
federacy, but  performed  a  most  important  work,  that  of  keeping  her 
boarding  school  open  (the  Charlotte  Female  Institute)  through  the  entire 
four  years  of  the  war.  In  addition  to  her  large  houseful  of  pupils  Mrs. 
Burwell  extended  her  limits  to  their  utmost  capacity  to  receive  the  girl 
refugees,  who  sought  safety  from  an  invading  army.  Her  sympathetic 
nature  welcomed  the  strangers,  and  many  still  recall  with  gratitude  the. 


of  the  Confederacy  3  5 

peaceful  haven  they  found  in  her  home.  With  all  her  duties  in 
her  school,  Mrs.  Burwell  found  time  to  minister  to  the  needy- 
families  of  soldiers  and  to  work  for  the  soldiers  in  the  army.  As  a 
teacher  this  woman  of  the  sixties  ranked  high  and  the  part  she  took  in 
keeping  up  the  standard  of  education  in  the  period  of  war  deserves  to 
be  remembered,  for  her  influence  on  every  student  left  its  mark  toward 
the  betterment  of  the  State. 

This  Spartan  Mother,  when  two  of  her  sons  gave  up  their  lives,  illus- 
trated "how  sublime  a  thing  it  is  to  suffer  and  be  strong,"  and  renewed 
her  services  for  others. 


The  aid  society  of  Wadesboro  was  composed  of  some  of  North 
Carolina's  most  ardent  women  of  the  Confederacy,  with  Mrs. 
Jesse  Edwards  as  president,  and  Miss  Kate  Shepherd  (afterwards 
the  wife  of  Colonel  Risden  Tyler  Bennett)  secretary.  They 
and  the  other  members  went  all  over  Anson  county  solicit' 
ing  wool  for  knitting.  They  also  gave  magic  lantern  shows  for  funds 
for  the  society,  going  from  town  to  town.  When  Sherman's  army  passed 
through  Wadesboro  these  women  exhibited  the  courage  that  character- 
ized  all  of  our  North  Carolina  women.  The  wife  of  Bishop  Atkinson 
who  was  refugeeing  there  tied  her  husbands  boots  inside  her  hoopskirt, 
and  thus  saved  them  for  him.  Miss  Fan  Beverly  grabbed  a  freshly 
boiled  ham  and  held  it  tightly  during  the  Yankee  raid.  Mrs.  Bennett 
in  her  exasperation,  extinguished  a  blaze  started  on  their  fine  old  side- 
board, while  at  the  Richardson  home  one  of  the  daughters  tied  her  broth- 
er's Masonic  apron  in  front  of  his  clothes  and  manager  to  save  much. 


The  women  of  Louisburg  and  Franklin  county  were  not  behind  the 
other  women  of  North  Carolina  in  real  patriotism,  and  self-sacrifice,  for 
they  gave  freely  of  their  heart's  dearest  treasures.  They  gave  more  sol- 
diers to  the  Confederacy  than  there  were  voters  in  the  county,  eleven  full 
companies.  Through  the  Soldier's  Aid  Society  the  women  of  Louis- 
burg never  flagged  in  their  service  for  their  boys  in  gray,  working  early 
and  late. 

Judge  Francis  Winston,  of  Windsor,  recalls  an  incident  of  the  wo- 


36  Tvforth  Carolina  Women 

men's  work  in  Franklin  county,  and  the  part  he  took  in  it  as  a  small  boy : 
"I  remember  during  the  war  the  constant  sewing  and  knitting  that 
my  mother,  (Mrs.  Patrick  Winston)  had  carried  on  and  did  herself  in 
Franklin  county  where  we  refugeed  and  the  articles  were  sent  from  there 
to  the  front.  It's  a  pleasant  memory  to  recall  that  I  was  very  anxious  to 
send  a  box  of  pop-corn  to  my  uncle  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and 
how  earnestly  my  mother  undertook  to  dissuade  me  from  doing  so,  but 
she  finally  yielded  to  my  importunities  and  the  large  box  of  pop-corn, 
more  than  a  bushel,  was  sent.  You  can  imagine  my  great  joy  upon 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  my  uncle  telling  my  mother  that  "Frank's  pop- 
corn came  in  fine  shape  and  good  time.  My  men  had  been  without  food 
for  a  day  and  a  half  and  the  pop-corn  was  all  they  had  for  another  day. 
I  doubt  if  such  another  scene  was  ever  witnessed  in  any  war  as  that  night 
when  Company  C.  and  others  of  the  regiment  were  busy  around  the 
fire  light  popping  and  eating  this  corn."  " 

Louisburg  has  the  honor  of  claiming  the  woman  who  made  the  first 
Stars  and  Bars  Flag,  which  was  designed  by  Orren  R.  Smith.  She  was 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Winborne,  whom  the  Division  has  remembered  with  a 
monument  on  which  is  carved  the  "Stars  and  Bars"  of  the  Confederacy. 
"There's  a  place  in  my  heart  for  the  stainless  gray,  for  the  Flag  of  the 
Stars  and  Bars." 


of  the  Confederacy  37 


BLOCKADE  RUNNING  INTO  WILMINGTON 


The  Chase  of  the  Blockade  Runner 

Freed  from  the  lingering  chase,  in  devious  ways 

Upon  the  swelling  tides 

Swiftly  the  runner  glides 

Through  hostile  shells  and  eager  foeman  past; 

The  lynx-eyed  pilot  gazing  through  the  haze 

And  engines  straining,  "far  hope  dawns  at  last." 

T^jow  falls  in  billows  deep  the  welcome  night 

Upon  white  sands  below; 

While  signal  lamps  aglow 

See\  out  Fort  Fisher's  distant  answering  gleams, 

The  blockade  runner's  \een,  supreme  delight — 

Dear  Dixie  Land,  the  haven  of  our  dreamsl 

— Dr.  James  Sprunt,  Wilmington,  T1^.  C. 


There  were  many  thrilling  incidents  during  the  war  when  the  women 
of  North  Carolina  proved  themselves  real  heroines.  One  of  these  was 
Mrs.  Louis  H.  De  Rosset  of  Wilmington,  a  brave  and  charming  woman. 
She  with  her  infant  daughter  Gabrielle,  were  passengers  on  the  noted 
blockade  runner,  Lynx,  which  was  commanded  by  Captain  Reed,  one 
of  the  most  daring  spirits  of  the  service.  On  the  evening  of  September 
26th,  she  attempted  to  run  the  blockade  at  New  Inlet.  She  was  immedi* 
ately  discovered  by  the  Federal  cruiser  Niphon,  which  fired  several  broad- 
sides at  her,  nearly  every  shot  striking  the  hull  and  seriously  disabling  her. 
Captain  Reed  was  almost  escaping  his  pursurers,  notwithstanding  all  this, 
but  was  again  intercepted  by  the  Federal  men  of  war.  Mrs.  De  Rosset 
and  baby  were  put  in  the  wheel  house  for  safety,  but  here  they  were 
exposed  to  great  danger,  cannon  balls  passing  close  by  them,  so  our 
heroine  flew  to  the  cabin  with  her  baby. 


38  Worth  Carolina  Women 

As  the  vessel  commenced  sinking,  Captain  Reed,  concerned  for  his 
passengers,  headed  for  the  beach.  The  sea  was  very  rough  that  night 
and  the  treacherous  breakers,  with  their  deafening  roar,  afforded  little 
hope  of  landing  a  woman  and  a  baby  through  the  surf,  nevertheless  it 
was.  the  only  alternative,  and  right  bravely  did  this  heroine  meet  it. 
Through  the  breakers  the  Lynx  was  driven  to  her^  destination.  Boats 
were  lowered  with  great  difficulty,  the  sea  dashing  over  the  bulwarks 
and  drenching  sailors  to  the  point  of  strangulation. 

Mrs.  De  Rosset,  with  the  utmost  coolness,  watched  her  chance,  while 
the  boat  lurched  and  pounded  against  the  stranded  ship,  and  jumped  to 
her  place.  The  baby,  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  was  tossed  from  the  deck 
to  her  mother  ten  feet  below.  And  then  the  fight  for  a  landing  began. 
The  whole  crew,  forgetful  of  their  own  danger,  and  inspired  with  cour- 
age by  this  brave  lady's  example,  joined  in  three  hearty  cheers  as  she 
disappeared  with  her  baby  in  the  darkness  toward  shore. 

Under  the  glare  of  the  burning  ship,  a  safe  landing  was  made,  but 
with  great  suffering.  Soaking  wet,  without  food  or  drink,  they  remained 
on  the  beach  until  an  ambulance  from  Fort  Fisher  was  sent  to  carry  them 
twenty  miles  up  to  Wilmington. 

The  baby  blockade  runner  (little  Gabrielle)  is  now  the  charming  Mrs. 
A.  M.  Waddell,  president  of  the  N.  C.  Society  Colonial  Dames.  So 
she,  and  her  brave  mother,  deserve  to  have  their  names  recorded  among 
North  Carolina's  heroic  women  of  the  Sixties. 


Mrs.  Josiah  (Laura)  Pender  of  Tarboro,  was  another  young  woman 
who  exhibited  remarkable  courage  in  running  the  blocade.  She  was  re- 
turning  from  Burmuda  to  Wilmington  on  the  ship  of  which  her  husband 
was  Captain,  when  a  Federal  gunboat  fired  upon  the  little  blockade  run- 
ner.  The  commander  was  on  the  point  of  surrendering,  seeing  the  un- 
equal  fight,  but  the  young  wife  declared  that  she  would  go  out  on  deck 
and  expose  herself  to  the  shot  and  shell,  if  he  surrendered.  It  is  ned- 
less  to  say  Captain  Pender  surrendered  to  his  wife  and  not  to  the  Tan' 
\ee  commander.  The  Confederate  runner  made  its  port  and  its  valuable 
cargo  for  the  Confederacy  was  saved  through  the  courageous  act  of  this 
young  woman. 


of  the  Confederacy  39 

Mrs.  Greenhow,  Celebrated  Spy 


"And  for  those  that  lament  them  there  is  this  relief, 
That  glory  sits  by  the  side  of  grief." 


Though  not  a  North  Carolina  woman  by  birth,  yet  the  story  of  Mrs. 
Rosa  Greenhow,  the  noted  Confederate  spy,  of  Washington  City,  is  so 
closely  linked  with  this  State  that  we  place  her  on  the  honor  roll  of  our 
heroic  women  of  North  Carolina. 

Mrs.  Greenhow  was  a  celebrated  beauty,  who  rendered  valuable  ser' 
vice  for  the  Confederacy  in  secret  service  work,  rceiving  highest  praise 
from  the  Confederate  Government.  The  ingenuity  shown  and  the  dar- 
ing of  this  clever  and  corageous  woman  in  getting  through  the  lines  im' 
portant  dispatches  make  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  story 
of  the  Confederacy.  After  serving  so  bravely  Mrs.  Greenhow  was  final- 
ly  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Washington  City  with  her  little  girl,  who 
showed  the  spirit  of  her  mother  when  she  told  the  officer  in  charge,  "You 
have  got  here  one  of  the  worst  little  rebels  you  ever  saw."  Through 
much  difficulty  Mrs.  Greenhow  was  released  on  account  of  the  extreme 
illness  of  her  daughter  and  she  again  began  her  secret  service  work.  On 
the  night  of  September  30th,  1864,  the  blockade  runner  Condor  on  which 
she  was  a  passenger,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  trying 
to  reach  the  port  of  Wilmington.  Seeing  that  they  were  to  be  attacked 
by  a  Federal  gunboat,  Mrs.  Greenhow  asked  to  be  put  ashore  in  a  small 
boat,  for  she  had  hidden  on  her  person  important  papers  for  President 
Jefferson  Davis,  and  she  knew  the  danger  of  capture.  As  fate  would 
have  it,  the  little  boat  capsized  and  Rosa  Greenhow  went  to  her  death, 
for  around  her  body  was  much  gold  that  weighted  her  down.  The  next 
day  her  body  was  washed  ashore.  She  was  buried  by  the  women  of 
Wilmington,  with  the  Confederate  Flag  wrapped  around  her  casket,  in 
Oakwood  cemetery.  The  important  messages  that  she  was  guarding  with 
her  life  were  sent  on  to  President  Davis. 

The  grave  of  this  beautiful  heroine  has  been  marked  with  a  marble 
cross  by  the  Ladies  Memorial  Association  of  Wilmington,  and  the  name 
of  Rosa  Greenhow  will  ever  be  remembered  in  North  Carolina. 


40  T^orth  Carolina  "Women 


WOMEN  IN  NURSING  AND  HOSPITAL  WORK 


"When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou." 


One  of  the  brave  self-sacrificing  women  of  North  Carolina  who  gave 
her  services  in  nursing  the  sick  and  wounded  was  Mrs.  Jesse  (Annie  K.) 
Kyle. 

Having  suffered  the  agony  of  having  her  husband  under  fire  at  Morris 
Island  (with  the  Immortal  600)  she  offered  her  services  (without  pay) 
as  head  nurse  at  the  hospital  in  Fayetteville.  Mrs.  Kyle,  though  a  frail 
woman  on  crutches,  had  the  indomitable  spirit  of  a  lion,  working  un' 
tiringly  from  morning  'til  night  dressing  wounds,  nursing  the  sick,  sooth' 
ing  and  comforting  the  dying  with  Holy  prayers. 

Mrs.  Kyle  has  left  a  most  graphic  reminiscence  of  Fayetteville  at 
this  time,  in  which  she  says: 

"They  were  bringing  the  wounded  from  Fort  Fisher,  Wilmington  and 
other  points.  We  already  had  one  hospital  and  were  establishing  an' 
other.  I  shall  never  forget  the  doctor's  look  of  amazement  when  I  ap' 
plied  for  the  situation.  My  reply  was:  "Doctor  I  don't  want  any  pay, 
but  I  must  have  constant  occupation  or  I  will  lose  my  mind."  I  went 
every  morning  at  nine  o'clock  and  stayed  until  one,  and  I  always  went 
late  in  the  afternoon  to  see  that  the  wants  of  the  patients  were  attended 
during  the  night.  I  always  dressed  all  the  wounds  every  morning,  and 
I  soon  found  that  my  grief  and  sorrow  were  forgotten  in  administering 
to  the  wants  of  the  sick.  Such  patience  and  fortitude  I  have  never  seen. 
Not  one  murmur  did  I  ever  hear  escape  the  lips.  My  Prayer  Book  was 
my  constant  companion.  I  carried  it  in  my  pocket  and  many  poor  sol- 
diers have  I  soothed  and  comforted  with  Holy  prayers.  One  day  as  I 
entered  the  hospital  I  noticed  a  new  face.  I  made  my  way  to  him  as  I 
was  struck  by  his  gray  hair,  and  said:  "You  are  too  old  to  be  here."  He 
smiled  and  his  answer  was  quite  a  rebuke:  "One  never  gets  too  old  to 
fight  for  ones  home  and  fireside.     I  had  no  sons  so  I  came  myself." 


of  the  Confederacy  •  41 

Often  there  were  soldiers  desperately  ill  with  fever  and  other  diseases, 
so  the  Young  Ladies'  Seminary  on  Hay  Street  in  Fayetteville,  was  fitted 
up  as  a  hospital,  where  they  could  be  cared  for.  The  three  floors  were 
arranged  to  accomodate  the  patients  who  were  brought  in  from  the  dif' 
ferent  localities,  many  of  them  sick,  some  convalescing  from  typhoid  fever 
and  some  wounded.  Each  ward  or  floor  was  presided  over  by  four 
ladies  who  attended  to  their  wants  giving  medicine,  nourishment,  etc., 
also  reading  to  them,  writing  to  their  absent  loved  ones,  and  making  them 
as  comfortable  as  possible,  the  doctor  generally  dressing  their  wounds. 

The  hospital  became  crowded  so  another  was  fitted  up  and  it  soon 
became  full  of  patients. 

Many  of  the  younger  women  assisted  the  older  ones  in  caring  for  the 
sick  soldiers,  daily  carrying  flowers  and  delicacies,  singing  and  cheering 
them  with  sunny  smiles. 

This  service  of  the  women  of  the  Confederacy  made  what  amends 
were  possible  for  the  pitiful  absence  of  anesthetics. 

After  Sherman's  memorable  visit  to  Fayetteville,  March  11,  '65,  a 
Marine  Hospital  on  Green  Street  was  established.  The  meals  for  the  sick 
soldiers  in  the  hospital  were  supplied  by  the  different  ladies  of  the  town, 
who  took  turns  in  sending  them,  several  ladies  being  a  committee  on  each 
day.  It  was  very  difficult  to  get  medicine  for  the  hospitals — all  that 
reached  Fayetteville  being  brought  in  by  the  blockade  runner  "Advance." 
Most  of  the  medicine  used  was  quinine,  which  was  very  precious,  but 
some  medicines  were  made  from  herbs  gathered  from  woods. 

On  the  eleventh  of  March  Sherman  with  his  hordes  of  depraved  and 
lawless  men  came  upon  us  bringing  sorrow  and  desolation.  I  can  never 
forget  the  terrible  scene  on  that  memorable  morning,  with  General  Wade 
Hampton  commanding  the  Confederate  forces. 

About  nine  o'clock  they  sent  for  me  to  go  to  the  hospital,  and  the  hor' 
rible  scene  I  witnessed  there  I  shall  never  forget.  The  wounded  had 
been  brought  in  from  Longstreet  battle,  where  a  portion  of  Hardee's  men 
had  had  an  engagement  with  Sherman's  men.  I  stayed  with  them  till 
just  before  daylight  and  did  all  I  could  to  relieve  their  wants.  Even  then 
I  did  not  hear  a  single  murmur.  Such  fortitude  has  7{0  PARALLEL 
IH  HISTORY. 

O!  THE  HORRORS  OF  THOSE  DAYS!  It  is  impossible  to  write 
or  tell  what  we  endured,  and  it  will  never  be  known  until  we  stand  be- 


Al  -  Jiprth  Carolina  Women 

fore  the  Judgment  Seat  of  God.  After  the  fall  of  Harper's  Ferry  the 
families  and  workmen  were  removed  to  Fayetteville,  in  consequence  of 
which  a  number  of  handsome  dwellings  were  added  to  the  Arsenal 
grounds.  It  was  a  lovely  spot  and  we  justly  felt  proud  of  it.  But 
Sherman's  torch  reduced  it  to  ashes.  Fayetteville  suffered  more  than 
most  towns,  for  we  had  five  cotton  factories  in  the  town  and  one  at 
Rockfish  just  a  few  miles  away,  and  they  were  all  burned  to  the  ground, 
leaving  hundreds  of  people  without  work  or  any  means  of  getting  bread. 
And  as  we  had  been  robbed  of  all  we  had,  of  course,  we  could  not  help 
them.  As  soon  as  night  came  on  we  could  see  fires  in  every  direction, 
as  all  the  buildings  in  the  country  were  burned.  I  can  compare  it  with 
nothing  but  what  I  can  imagine  Hades  would  be  if  its  awful  doors  were 
thrown  open.  But  for  the  kindness  of  my  servants  I  don't  know  what 
would  have  become  of  me.  They  were  very  faithful.  One  walked  up 
and  down  the  passage  all  night  and  the  other  stayed  on  the  back  porch. 
Still  I  was  afraid  to  close  my  eyes.  But  for  my  nurse  we  would  not 
have  had  one  mouthful  to  eat.  She  hid  some  things  in  her  own  room 
and  in  that  way  saved  them. 

The  Yankees  went  into  homes  that  were  beautiful,  rolled  elegant  pi' 
anos  into  the  yard  with  valuable  furniture,  china,  cut  glass,  and  every 
thing  that  was  dear  to  the  heart,  even  old  family  portraits  and  chopped 
them  up  with  axes — rolled  barrels  of  flour  and  molasses  into  the  parlors, 
and  poured  out  their  contents  on  beautiful  carpets — in  many  cases  set 
fire  to  lovely  homes  and  burned  them  to  the  ground,  and  even  took  some 
of  our  citizens  and  hung  them  until  their  life  was  near  extinct,  to  force 
them  to  tell  them  where  their  money  was  hidden;  when  alas!  they  had 
none  to  hide. 

After  Sherman  left,  our  hospitals  which  had  not  been  very  full  were 
filled  to  overflowing.  They  came  in  with  various  diseases  and  wounds 
inumerable,  while  typhoid  fever  also  prevailed.  Every  lady  in  town  who 
could,gave  up  her  time  to  nursing  and  caring  for  the  dear  brave  boys.  We 
gave  them  medicine  and  took  them  flowers  and  wrote  letters  to  their  dear 
ones,  who  were  far  away  from  them,  read  to  them,  and  did  every  thing 
possible  to  cheer  and  help  them.  Oh!  how  sad  it  was  to  see  them  suffer, 
and  pass  away  so  far  from  those  they  loved — and  during  their  illness 
how  they  watched  and  waited  day  after  day,  for  the  letters  from  home 
that  never  came. 


of  the  Confederacy  43 

One  morning  I  had  a  message  from  the  upper  hospital  asking  me  to 
come.  I  got  there  in  time  to  close  the  eyes  of  seven  soldiers,  then  I  went 
to  the  Mayor  and  got  a  permit  for  a  coffin  and  a  hearse,  then  Mrs.  Guion 
and  I  with  two  of  the  men  from  the  hospital  followed  their  remains  to 
the  place  where  we  had  been  burying  the  soldiers. 

Just  a  few  days  after  Sherman's  army  crossed  the  Cape  Fear  River  I 
went  to  a  few  of  my  gentlemen  friends  and  raised  sufficient  money  to 
buy  coffins  and  to  have  thirty  graves  dug.  I  had  the  six  bodies  in  the 
hospital  yard  and  the  others  buried  where  they  camped  disinterred,  mak- 
ing twelve  in  all.  Mayor  McLean  went  to  the  cemetery  with  me  to 
select  a  spot  where  we  could  have  them  all  buried  together.  We  could 
not  get  a  square  large  enough  to  hold  them  all,  so  he  gave  us  the  back 
part  of  the  cemetery,  overlooking  Cross  Creek,  a  very  pretty  situation 
with  room  for  all,  and  a  place  large  enough  left  to  place  the  monument. 
Eighteen  were  buried  in  a  field  across  the  creek  and  we  had  them  all  taken 
up,  and  just  at  sunset  Dr.  Huske,  beloved  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church, 
read  again  the  words:  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  the  coffins 
were  lowered  to  their  resting  place,  and  the  souls  of  the  dead  entered 
into  the  rest  of  Paradise  until  they  should  arise  to  meet  the  Lord  and 
Saviour." 


The  Women  at  Our  State  Capital 


"Whose  courage  unhro\en,  whose  sorrow  unspo\en, 
Thrilled  a  cheer  and  a  hope  to  the  boys  in  gray." 


The  women  of  Raleigh  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  when  the 
North  Carolina  soldiers  were  encamped  there  for  training,  had  greater 
opportunity  for  service  to  our  boys  than  any  other  town  in  the  State. 
When  Doctor  Charles  Johnston,  head  of  the  State  Medical  Department, 
called  for  volunteers  among  the  women  to  nurse  in  the  North  Carolina 
hospitals  in  Petersburg,  Va.,  a  Raleigh  woman,  Miss  M.  L.  Pettigrew, 
was  among  the  three  women  chosen  for  this  great  service. 

A  wayside  hospital  was  established  here  and  later  other  hospitals  were 
opened  and  were  constantly  filled  with  soldiers  brought  here  from  many 


44  X[orih  Carolina  Women 

points.  The  Pettigrew  hospital  was  where  is  now  the  State  Soldiers' 
Home.  The  old  Guion  hotel  and  the  churches  were  filled  with  the 
wounded,  the  unfinished  building  of  Peace  Institute  was  turned  into  a 
hospital  and  many  of  the  private  homes  were  used  to  care  for  these  men 
brought  in  on  every  train.  How  these  women  rescued  their  dead  sol' 
diers  who  were  thrown  in  a  field  by  the  Yankees  and  began  their 
Memorial  Association  is  told  further  on  in  this  chronicle. 

The  women  or  Raleigh  endured  the  terror  of  Sherman's  soldiers  when 
they  captured  the  State  Capitol  and  the  days  of  reconstruction  are  very 
vivid  today  to  those  survivors  of  that  period. 

Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe,  in  his  history,  says:  "One  of  the  Raleigh  ladies  in 
writing  of  the  conditions  in  that  city  at  this  time  gives  these  facts:" 

"Raleigh  was  now  filled  with  wounded  and  disabled  soldiers;  the 
churches  and  every  available  place  were  turned  into  hospitals.  I  did 
what  I  could,  but  it  seemed  nothing;  many  poor  men  on  benches,  some 
in  high  delirium,  some  in  the  agony  of  death.  A  young  soldier  passed 
away  none  knew  his  name  or  his  home;  as  the  coffin  lid  was  being 
screwed  down  a  dear  old  lady  pressed  her  lips  to  his  brow  and  said,  "Let 
me  kiss  him  for  his  dear  old  mother.'1  Every  heart  responded  and  all 
eyes  were  filled  with  tears.  Volumes  of  heart  rending  and  pathetic  in- 
cidents of  our  four  years  cruel  war.  Although  we  were  becoming  less 
hopeful,  yet  the  fall  of  the  Confederacy  was  unexpected  at  last." 

Mrs.  Martha  Haywood  gives  these  sacred  recollections  of  the  Con' 
federate  days  in  Raleigh. 


Is  it  your  prayer  that  the  world  may  \now 
The  \nightly  deeds  of  the  stainless  dead?" 


"My  most  vivid  recollection  of  the  war  in  Raleigh  are  closely  related 
to  Christ  Church,  there  we  used  to  go  for  the  strength  and  inspiration 
to  carry  us  through  the  dark  days  that  were  upon  us.  To  listen  to  the 
council  of  our  pastor  Doctor  Mason.  To  pray  for  the  Confederate 
Government  and  its  leader,  Jefferson  Davis.  There  is  an  old  legend 
that  the  Golden  Cock  on  the  steeple  of  Christ  Church  is  the  only  article 
resembling  a  fowl  that  Sherman's  bummers  did  not  take  when  they 
passed  through  our  city.     Great  would  have  been  the  grief  of  our  con' 


of  the  Confederacy  45 

gregation  had  the  steeple  been  low  enough  to  permit  their  trying  their 
hand  at  its  capture,  for  day  by  day  it  had  spoken  to  us  of  hope,  remind- 
ing us  that  each  day  was  a  new  day,  calling  on  us  to  hold  to  the  faith, 
no  matter  how  hard  the  winter  of  discontent.  Never  to  deny  by  word 
or  action  our  belief  in  the  goodness  of  God — our  faith  in  our  Redeemer. 
Around  the  church  clustered  our  strength  and  our  hope  for  the  Life 
Eternal — here  the  men  and  boys  who  had  left  us  to  fight  for  the  right, 
came  sometimes  back  on  their  furloughs  to  join  their  prayers  with  ours — 
here  their  sweethearts,  wives  and  mothers  came  to  pray  for  their  safety 
during  the  long  cold  days  of  dread.  The  dim  quiet  aisles  are  always 
peopled  for  me  with  pretty  brides  of  those  days — the  sad  faced  widows. 
Here  in  the  quiet  light  I  catch  again  the  ghostly  glimmer  of  Generals 
Branch  and  Cox,  here  the  voices  of  the  choir  in  the  old  hymns  of  faith 
and  courage.  We  offered  the  bell  of  the  church  to  the  Confederate 
Government,  but  it  was  never  removed,  for  into  each  heart  had  crept 
the  knowledge  that  all  we  could  do  was  too  little  to  stem  the  mighty 
tide  that  was  upon  us. 

The  voice  of  the  old  bell  speaks  ever  to  my  heart,  of  the  golden  days 
before  the  cruel  war,  the  gray  days  when  our  faith  rose  triumphant  in 
prayers  and  hymns. 


"7v[o  country  or  clime  hath  devotion  \i\e  thine." 


Among  the  many  women  of  our  State  whose  ministrations  to  the  sol' 
diers  of  the  Confederacy  should  be  recorded,  is  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Elliott. 
Mrs.  Elliott  refugeed  from  her  home  in  Elisabeth  City  to  Oxford  during 
the  war,  and  while  in  the  latter  town  she  gave  special  work  in  nursing 
at  the  hospital  at  Kittrell  Springs.  This  was  one  of  the  fashionable 
watering  places  in  anti-bellum  days  and  had  been  converted  into  a  hospital 
by  the  Confederate  Government,  to  which  were  sent  hundreds  of  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers. 

Mrs.  Elliott  and  other  ladies  of  this  section  were  the  ministering  angels 
at  this  hospital.  She  not  only  sent  wagons  loaded  with  delicacies  and 
food  from  the  opening  of  it  until  the  last,  but  spared  no  pains  to  induce 
others  to  do  the  same.  She  tenderly  nursed  these  soldiers  and  was  un- 
tiring  in  her  efforts  to  relieve  their  suffering.     Over  fifty  of  these  pa- 


46  T^orth  Carolina  Women 

tients  of  the  Kittrell  Springs  hospital  died  and  were  buried  near  the  town 
of  Kittrell.  Mrs.  Elliott  in  1871  rescued  these  graves  from  oblivion  and 
with  her  own  hands  planted  a  cedar  hedge  around  the  plot,  fencing  it 
in  and  making  it  one  of  the  loveliest  of  God's  acres  in  the  State. 


A  tribute  should  be  paid  to  Mrs.  John  Harper,  whose  colonial  house 
stood  near  the  sight  of  the  battle  of  Bentonville  (March  19,  '65)  not  far 
from  Goldsboro.  This  dauntless  woman  went  forth  upon  this  scene  of 
carnage  and  battle,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  children,  gathered  into  her 
home  the  wounded,  whom  she  nursed  as  best  she  could,  bathing  the 
fevered  brow  and  sending  the  departed  souls  on  wings  of  prayer  to  God. 
Then  she  gave  burial  to  these,  and  to  those  who  were  left  on  the  field  of 
battle  in  the  dire  calamity  that  pressed  the  Confederate  forces. 


***0******** 


"All  hail  to  you,  Sisters  of  warm  blooded  s\ys, 
Proud  mothers  of  chivalrous  men." 


Amongst  the  Florence  Nightingales  of  North  Carolina  were  the  wo- 
men of  the  Farquhard,  William  and  John  Smith  families  of  the  Little 
River  community  in  Harnett  (then  Cumberland)  county.  The  battle  of 
Averasboro,  between  Sherman's  army  and  Johnston's,  was  fought  on 
March  16th,  1865,  in  the  beautiful  grove  of  Mr.  John  Smith.  Instead 
of  flying  from  this  terrifying  scene  the  women  of  this  family  assisted 
in  carrying  the  wounded  and  dying  into  this  home,  and  turned 
the  entire  house  into  a  hospital.  The  men  were  tenderly  and  lov- 
ingly  nursed  by  the  older  women  while  the  young  ladies  of  he 
family  and  the  community  brought  every  delicacy  that  could  be 
concocted  from  their  meager  supplies  (after  Sherman's  destruction.) 
The  main  line  of  battle  extended  through  the  section  where  Chicora 
Cemetery  now  stands.  The  breastworks,  part  of  which  still  remain,  ex- 
tended from  Black  River  across  to  the  Cape  Fear  River,  a  distance  of 
several  miles. 

Miss  Jessie  Slocumb  Smith,  grand-daughter  of  Mrs.  Farquhard  Smith, 
one  of  the  "Florence  Nightingales"  of  the  battle  of  Averasboro,  gives 
this  description  of  the  homes  of  the  three  "mothers,"  who  bore  such  mv 
portant  parts  in  this  event  of  the  war. 


of  the  Confederacy  47 

"During  the  battle  of  Averasboro  the  home  of  Mrs.  Farquhard  Smith 
was  confiscated  by  the  Federal  troops  and  used  as  their  headquarters. 
The  William  Smith  home,  now  standing  just  as  in  the  '60's,  was  used 
as  a  Federal  hospital.  The  "parlor"  on  which  the  blood  stains  are  yet 
to  be  seen  was  used  as  an  operating  room,  and  the  piano,  now  the  treas- 
ured  possession  of  a  grand-daughter,  was  used  for  an  operating  table. 
The  federal  soldiers  dying  here  were  first  buried  in  the  garden,  but  all 
of  these,  as  well  as  those  killed  in  the  battle  of  Averasboro  were  later 
moved  to  the  Federal  cemetery  in  Raleigh. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  three  homes  is  the  old  John  Smith  place, 
Oak  Grove,  which  was  vacated  by  the  families  and  used  as  the  Confed- 
erate hospital.  It  is  one  of  the  few  homes  to  which  the  passing  years  has 
brought  no  architectual  changes.  It  still  stands,  though  now  more  than 
a  century  old,  as  simply  and  as  proudly  as  in  those  trying  days  of  '65! 
In  the  attic  are  still  to  be  seen  the  holes  made  by  the  cannon  balls,  and 
on  an  upstairs  bed  room  floor  are  still  descernible  the  blood  stains  left 
by  wounded  Confederate  soldiers.  To  this  hospital  most  of  the  wound- 
ed were  carried — all  who  could  be  accomodated.  When,  however,  its 
rooms  were  filled  to  overflowing  other  homes  and  neighbors  came  to  the 
rescue. 

After  fighting  all  day  our  men  were  compelled  to  withdraw  with 
great  loss  of  life.  Those  who  escaped  were  so  closely  pressed  that  they 
were  unable  to  bury  their  dead,  so  the  enemy  placed  the  bodies  in  has- 
tily dug  graves. 

As  interesting  as  the  battle  field  are  the  homes  of  the  neighborhood, 
Smithville  it  was  called.  These  homes  escaped  the  torch  usually  ap' 
plied  because,  I  suppose,  they  were  necessary  to  the  Union  troops.  The 
Farquhard  Smith  home  was  used  as  headquarters  for  the  Federal  troops. 

Only  those  who  have  heard  the  women  of  that  day  talk  realize  the  pov- 
erty of  those  days  for  this  community.  First  Johnston's  army  had  passed 
through  taking  the  necessary  supplies  for  our  men,  and  then  came  Sher- 
man's army  pillaging  everything.  For  food  there  was  only  a  little  corn 
left  and  sometimes  some  meat  which  had  been  buried  or  hidden.  Great 
was  the  problem  of  procuring  food  for  the  patients  at  the  hospital.  The 
ladies  living  near  by,  who  went  in  to  nursing  each  day,  carried  part  of 
their  frugal  supper  of  cornmuffin  and  hominy,  while  those  living  farther 


48  Worth  Carolina  'Women 

away,  those  who  had  saved  some  cows  and  chickens  and  so  had  milk  and 
eggs,  made  such  delicacies  as  they  could  contrive  and  sent  each  day  to 
the  hospital. 

We  of  the  present  day  can  but  marvel  that  there  was  sufficient 
strength  and  spirit  left  after  going  through  all  the  hardships  of  that 
period  for  the  women  to  begin  immediately  the  work  of  "carrying  on!" 
However  they  did  it." 


A  FORAGING  PARTY 


Drawn  by  one  of  Sherman's  i  soldiers,  and  copied  by  the  author  from 
a  magazine  of  the  Sixties.  This  illustrates  many  of  the  incidents  we 
are  recording,  where  homes  were  ruthlessly  pillaged. 


of  the  Confederacy  49 


COURAGE  DISPLAYED 

"Let  Evil  come  with  angry  brow,  a  lionhcarted  hero  thou." 


In  one  of  the  issues  of  that  valuable  magazine,  "Carolina  and  the 
Southern  Cross,"  Mrs.  Archbell  gives  this  thrilling  story  of  a  young  girl 
in  Kinston  (who  was  later  Mrs.  Minnie  Suggs).  After  telling  of  the 
indignities  and  desperations  of  the  Yankees  in  Kinston,  Mrs.  Suggs  says: 
"As  I  looked  from  the  window  of  my  home  I  saw  those  brutal  Yankees 
hang  my  little  brother,  in  a  kind  of  gallows  used  to  swing  hogs)  and 
calling  my  mother,  I  rushed  from  the  house  like  fury,  I  no  longer  knew 
what  fear  was.  I  seized  the  collar  of  the  Yankee  who  was  drawing  the 
child  up  the  gallows  and  shook  him  until  he  released  the  rope.  By  that 
time  Mother  came  and  helped  unhang  the  boy,  who  was  as  white  as 
a  sheet  and  shaking  with  ague.  Mother  put  him  to  bed,  and  those 
Yankees  left." 

This  same  girl  again  showed  the  splendid  courage  of  so  many  of  our 
Confederate  women.  One  day  when  she  was  alone  in  her  country  home, 
with  only  her  cook,  a  Yankee  and  a  negro  rode  up.  The  Yankee  called 
to  the  negro  to  come  in  and  help  him  burn  the  house.  In  telling  the 
story  Mrs,  Suggs  says:  "No,"  I  said,  stepping  on  the  porch.  "That 
negro  knows  better  than  to  come  in.  If  he  comes  in  I  shall  kill  him." 
"I  saw  that  the  negro  did  not  offer  to  come,  but  the  white  man  began 
to  move  the  chairs  into  the  center  of  the  room  and  called  to  our  cook 
to  bring  fire.  She  refused,  but  he  kept  moving  things  and  calling  for  fire 
In  order  to  move  a  table  he  placed  his  gun  by  the  door.  I  saw  my  ad' 
vantage,  and  reached  it  just  as  he  realized  what  I  was  doing.  I  did  not 
have  time  to  aim  the  gun  but  I  raised  it  like  a  club  and  told  him  that  I 
would  use  it  if  he  came  near  me.  The  negro  on  horseback  rode  off  as 
soon  as  he  saw  me  with  the  gun." 

"Hold  up  your  hands,"  I  said  to  the  Yankee,  and  his  hands  went  up. 
"Now,"  I  said,  "Go  and  get  on  your  horse."  He  did  so,  but  he  begged 
me  to  let  him  have  the  gun.     He  said  he  would  have  to  tell  what  had 


50  J^orth  Carolina  "Women 

become  of  it.  The  rifle  contained  fifteen  leads.  I  looked  at  the  Yankee 
and  told  him  that  I  would  return  the  gun  if  he  would  take  an  oath. 
He  agreed.  "Raise  your  right  hand,"  I  said,  "and  repeat  the  oath  after 
me:  "I  swear  before  Almighty  God  that  I  will  go  home  and  never  fire 
another  gun  at  a  Southerner.11  He  raised  the  hand  and  took  the  oath, 
I  handed  him  the  gun.  Somehow  I  felt  safe  in  doing  so.  He  took  off 
his  cap  and  said:  "You  brave  girl.  No  man  could  harm  you  after 
such  a  daring  act,  and  I  wish  for  you  only  what  is  good,1'  and  he  rode 
away." 

The  variety  of  war  industries  carried  on  in  Kinston  were  very  great, 
and  the  women  did  a  large  part  of  the  work.  There  were  three  hos- 
pitals  in  which  the  women  nursed,  besides  a  long  line  of  tents  used  for 
smallpox  cases. 


"Aunt  Abby,  the  Irrepressible" 

"What  could  daunt  her,  what  could  turn  her?" 


Mrs.  Abby  House  of  Franklin  county,  made  famous  from  Mrs.  Mary 
Bayard  Clark's  sketches,  as  "Aunt  Abby,  the  Irrepressible,"  though  a 
"diamond  in  the  rough"  was  one  of  the  strangest  and  most  courageous 
characters  among  our  women  of  the  Sixties.  Unable  to  read  or  write,  she 
could  use  her  tongue  most  effectively,  as  on  her  frequent  visits  to  General 
Lee,  President  Davis  and  Governor  Vance,  when  she  showed  her  determ- 
ination by  always  gaining  her  point  in  her  efforts  to  obtain  furloughs 
for  sick  soldiers.  Mrs.  Clark  quotes  her  as  saying  to  her  eight  nephews, 
"I  can  tell  you  not  a  man  of  my  family  would  I  let  stay  at  home  in  peace 
if  he  was  able  to  tote  a  musket.  I  said  to  them,  boys,  all  'er  you  go 
along  to  the  field  whar  you  belongs,  and  if  any  of  you  gits  sick  or  is 
wounded,  you  can  depend  on  your  old  aunt  Abby  to  nuss  and  tend  you. 
For  so  help  me  God  if  one  of  you  gits  down  and  I  can't  git  to  you  no 
other  way,  I'll  foot  it  to  your  bedside;  and  if  any  one  of  you  dies  or  gits 
killed,  I  promise  to  bring  you  home  and  bury  you  with  your  kin." 

Faithfully  did  she  keep  her  promise,  as  five  of  the  eight  sleep  in  sol- 
diers graves,  nursed,  or  his  body  brought  home  by  this  fearless  woman; 


of  the  Confederacy  5 1 

even  for  twelve  days  searching  the  battlefields,  herself  unmindful  of  it's 
horrors,  and  walking,  even  running,  to  Richmond  to  nurse  her  boys. 

"Aunt  Abby"  was  as  fearless  under  fire  as  in  the  use  of  her  tongue, 
and  with  the  greatest  coolness,  she  would  walk  through  the  trenches 
during  the  fearful  bombardment  of  Petersburg,  frequently  going  under 
heavy  fire  to  carry  water  to  our  wounded.  On  one  occasion  finding 
two  horses,  whose  riders  had  jumped  off  to  run  down  some  Yankees,  she 
carefully  led  them  by  the  bridle  to  find  their  owners  with  the  bullets 
around  her  like  hail,  and  she  as  cool  as  though  leading  the  horses  to 
water  at  home. 

She  was  on  the  way  to  Gen.  Lee's  army  when  she  heard  of  the  evacu' 
ation  of  Richmond  and  President  Davis'  arrival  at  Greensboro,  so  she 
"footed"  it  down  the  railroad  track  to  join  her  beloved  Davis  since  she 
couldn't  "git  to  Gen'ral  Lee."  Reaching  Greensboro  she  says  she  "cook' 
ed  the  last  mouthful  o"  vittles  Jeff  Davis  eat  in  North  Carolina,  and  he 
shuck  hands  with  me  when  the  train  started,  and  said  "goodbye  Aunt 
Abby,  you  are  true  grit,  and  stick  to  your  friends  to  the  last,  but's  no 
more  than  I  thought  you'd  do." 

Her  fearlessness  in  forcing  the  Federal  Provost  Marshal  at  Raleigh 
to  give  her  back  her  mule,  "crap  critter,"  as  she  called  it,  which  Sher- 
man's "bummers"  had  stolen,  fully  carried  out  Governor  Vance's  de- 
scription of  this  unique  character  in  a  letter  to  General  Lee  as  "The 
ubiquitious,  indefatigable  and  irrepressible  Mrs.  Abby  Home  House." 


Other  Heroines 


"7\[o  army's  private  soldiers  ever  may 
Have  quite  so  many  tributes;  they  shall  be 
Forever  held  in  memory  with  Lee, 
Remembered,  loved,  forever  and  a  dayl" 


General  William  A.  Smith,  Commander  of  the  North  Carolina  Di- 
vision United  Confederate  Veterans,  gives  this  thrilling  story  of  a  heroine 
of  Sherman's  raid  in  Anson  county. 


52  Worth  Carolina  'Women 

"When  the  Federal  army  commanded  by  Gen.  Shermana  passed 
through  the  southern  portion  of  Anson  county,  January  and  February 
1865,  occupying  a  week  in  passing;  the  L.  D.  Bennett  home  lay  in  his 
track.  His  soldiers  set  fire  to  the  gin  house  and  burned  more  than  200 
bales  of  cotton,  the  corn  crib  and  contents,  the  grainery  with  its  wheat, 
oats  and  field  peas;  robbed  the  smoke  house  and  destroyed  every  thing 
that  would  sustain  life.  The  way  to  conquer  the  South  was  to  conquer 
the  women  of  the  South — the  sustainers  of  the  army  in  the  field — the 
only  way  to  conquer  the  Southern  women  was  to  starve  them  and  their 
children.  In  this  they  reckoned  without  their  host  as  the  Southern  wo- 
men were  unconquerable. 

"J^o  annals  of  the  world  has  ever  told 
Of  grander,  more  unselfish  sacrifice, 
More  loyal  hearts  in  God's  paradise." 
And  sacred  scribe  has  never  vet  unrolled 

They  hooked  up  two  magnificent  beys  to  the  finest  carriage  in  Anson 
county  and  loaded  it  with  hams  from  the  smokehouse  and  drove  away 
— it  was  never  seen  more.  They  drove  off  or  wantonly  shot  every  horse 
and  mule,  every  cow  and  calf.  Flock  of  sheep  and  goats  did  not  escape. 
Killed  the  peafowls,  the  ducks,  guineas  and  chickens.  The  only  feather- 
ed  thing  that  escaped  was  a  gander.  For  three  or  four  days  during  the 
passing  of  Sherman's  army,  he  was  without  food  or  water.  Afterward 
he  came  out  of  hiding.  The  Bennett  family  kept  it  as  relic  till  it  became 
so  old  that  a  breadcrust,  when  given  was  carried  by  him  to  the  chicken 
trough  and  soaked — softened  so  he  could  eat  it. 

"They  carried  off  the  watches  and  jewelry  and  silverware,  not  leaving 
so  much  as  a  teaspoon.  Broke  into  and  ransacked  the  trunks,  bureau's 
and  closets.  The  piano,  sofas,  dining  table,  bureaus  and  other  large  fur' 
niture  was  cut  up  into  fragments  with  an  axe.  They  did  not  spare  the 
old  walnut  and  mahogany  bedsteads.  Opened  the  ticks  and  scattered 
the  feathers  over  the  floors  of  the  chambers,  with  buckets  brought  mo- 
lasses (sorghum)  and  mixed  it  with  the  feathers  by  thoroughly  stirring. 

"The  five  sons  of  the  Bennett  family  were  all  in  the  Confederate 
arm.  Mrs.  Jane  Bennett  and  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Charlotte,  were 
the  only  occupants  of  the  dwelling.  When  the  Yankees  came  the  mother 
and  daughters  retired  into  one  room,  locked  the  door  and  gave  up  the 
other  portion  of  the  house.     After  they  had  destroyed  everything,  (took 


of  the  Confederacy  53 

what  they  desired  and  tore  up  the  balance)  wrought  their  feindish  will 
in  both  stories  and  attic,  the  vandals  approached  the  door  of  the  room 
where  the  mother  and  maiden  daughters  were.  This  they  found  locked 
and  were  preparing  to  break  the  door  down.  Then  it  was  thrown  open 
by  the  elder  maiden  with  a  repeating  gun  in  her  hand.  Said  she  "I  will 
kill  the  first  man  who  enters."  They  looked  at  the  repeating  gun,  then 
along  its  shining  barrel,  saw  the  scintilating  beads  of  determination  in  the 
flashing  eyes  of  the  heroic  girl,  and  steady  hands  of  the  resolute  girl  be- 
hind the  gun,  and  dared  not  enter.  Thus  she  saved  her  honor  and  pro- 
tected her  mother  and  sister." 

"A  man  would  not  be  brave  enough  to  resist  a  horde  of  determined 
men  bent  on  mischief,  pillage  and  vandalism,  but  Miss  Mary  Bennett 
dared  to  and  did  defy  them.  Seeing  an  officer  in  their  midst  she  asked 
him  for  a  guard  to  be  stationed  at  the  door,  which  was  done. 

"The  above  story  and  incident  is  literally  true  as  heard  from  the  lips 
of  Miss  Bennett,  for  I  married  this  HEROINE." 

Capt.  Ashe  tells  us  of  how  venerable  Bishop  Thomas  Atkinson  at 
his  home  at  Wadesboro  on  March  3,  1865,  was  insulted  by  Sherman's 
soldiers.  Bishop  Atkinson  said,  "when  the  Yankees  entered  the  town 
I  requested  my  family  to  remain  in  their  rooms.  A  soldier  entering  the 
door  with  many  oaths  demanded  my  watch  which  I  refused  to  give  up. 
He  then  presented  a  pistol  at  me,  and  threatened  to  shoot  me  if  I  did 
not  surrender  it  immediately.  I  still  refused  and  the  altercation  became 
loud  and  my  wife  heard  it  and  ran  into  the  room  and  beseeched  me  to 
give  it  up  which  I  then  did.  He  then  proceeded  to  rifle  our  trunks  and 
drawers,  took  some  of  my  clothes  from  these  and  my  wife's  jewelry." 


'What  will  not  woman,  gentle  woman  dare, 
When  strong  affection,  stirs  her  spirit  up?" 


When  Sherman's  army  was  passing  through  Clinton,  Sampson  County, 
some  of  the  soldiers  attacked  the  home  of  Robert  A.  Moseley,  Commander 
of  the  Home  Guard,  who  had  been  forced  on  account  of  illness  to  re- 
turn home  from  active  duty.  It  was  during  the  night  that  the  Yankee 
soldiers  entered  the  home.  They  pulled  open  the  trunks  and  drawers  in 
search  of  valuables,  then  threw  a  large  feather  pillow  on  the  infant  Robert 
Moseley,  Jr.,  who  lay  asleep  on  his  mother's  bed.     Like  an  enraged  tigress 


H  7<lorih  Carolina  Women 

Mrs.  Moseley  sprang  up  in  defence  of  her  baby,  exclaiming,  "would  you 
murder  a  helpless  child?"  With  an  oath  the  ruffian  said  "the  D  little 
rebel  ought  to  be  smothered."  Just  then  a  scream  of  "brother,  brother," 
was  heard  and  Robert  Moseley  rushed  to  the  room  occupied  by  his  wife's 
eighteen  year  old  sister  which  had  been  entered  by  the  marauders.  After 
plundering  the  bed  room  and  terrifying  the  young  girl  and  her  two  little 
sisters,  Anna  and  Ida,  the  soldiers  left  with  curses  and  threats. 

This  incident  was  given  me  by  Mrs.  Moseley  herself  now  a  lovely  and 
cultured  old  lady  in  her  nineties.  Her  delicate  soldier  husband  passed 
to  the  Beyond  soon  after  Sherman's  soldiers  attacked  his  home,  leaving 
her  (who  had  been  raised  in  wealth)  to  face  the  poverty  of  reconstruction 
days  with  five  small  children.  How  this  young  woman  showed  pluck 
and  heroism  in  raising  and  educating  these  as  splendid  men  and  women 
is  another  story.  But  the  spirit  was  characteristic  of  our  Southern  Wo- 
men of  the  Sixties. 

As  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Corbett,  of  Ivanhoe,  Sampson  County,  lay  in  bed 
with  a  two  days  old  infant,  Sherman's  soldiers,  trying  to  terrify  her  into 
disclosing  her  hidden  valuables,  started  a  fire  beneath  her  bedroom  win' 
dow,  the  flames  mounting  high.  In  order  to  save  her  fatherless  babes, 
she  gave  the  information. 

A  thrilling  act  of  courage  was  exhibited  by  Mrs.  Henry  Finch,  of 
Johnston  County.  In  retaliation  for  Wheeler's  Calvary  cutting  off  part 
of  Sherman's  army  train,  the  Yankee  soldiers  locked  Mrs.  Finch  inside 
her  home  and  set  fire  to  the  building.  This  intrepid  woman  raised  the 
window,  jumped  to  the  ground,  pointed  a  gun  and  threatened  to  shoot, 
saying  she  preferred  to  be  shot  by  them  than  burned  to  death.  The  sol' 
aires  admired  her  courage  allowed  her  to  walk  over  to  the  adjoining  plan' 
tation.  The  home  of  Mrs.  Lucien  Saunders  in  Johnston  was  also  de' 
stroyed,  and  through  it  all  Mrs.  Saunders  showed  this  same  splendid  spirit 
which  characterised  our  Southern  women. 

Mrs.  Evelyn  Smith  Beckwith,  while  refugeeing  from  Craven  County 
at  Smithfield,  Johnston  County,  had  a  terrible  experience  with  Sherman's 
soldiers.  With  no  one  in  the  house  but  herself  and  four  small  children, 
negro  troops,  commanded  by  white  men,  came  upon  them  and  demanded 
hidden  silver.  One  of  the  officers  threatened  to  hang  Mrs.  Beckwith 
and  the  children,  and  burnt  her  home,  finally  saying,  "Madam,  do  you 
know  we  sometimes  divest  the  Southern  women  of  their  clothes?"     This 


of  the  Confederacy  55> 

indauntable  woman  replied  that  she  was  not  afraid  of  him,  and  that  if 
he  dared  deprive  her  of  her  clothes  he  would  never  get  on  his  horse  again. 
And  these  rufians  departed  overcome  by  her  superb  fearlessness. 

The  same  fearlessness  was  shown  by  Mrs.  Murdock  White,  a  young 
woman  of  Sampson  County.  When  part  of  Sherman's  army  was  en- 
gaged in  their  destructive  visit  to  Sampson  county  they  came  upon  her 
house.  With  a  pistol  placed  at  the  head  of  Mrs.  White  they  demanded 
the  hidden  valuables.  This  corageous  woman  said,  "Shoot,  I'll  never  tell 
you  where  they  are."  Whereupon  the  ruffians  departed  from  the  house 
disgusted. 

Miss  Nellie  Worth  (now  Mrs.  Geo.  French,  of  Wilmington)  when 
Sherman's  army  were  devastating  Eastern  Carolina,  had  a  Yankee  present 
a  pistol  at  her  head  and  threatened  to  kill  her  if  she  didn't  tell  where  the 
valuables  were  hidden.  This  courageous  young  girl  though  completely 
in  his  power,  defied  and  dared  him  to  touch  her,  refusing  to  give  the 
desired  information.       Finding  his  threats  were  useless,  the  disgusted 

"bummer"  left  swearing,  as  Miss  Worth  expressed  it,  "I  was  the  d st 

rebel  he  had  ever  seen,"  (which  I  considered  quite  a  compliment) . 

The  experience  of  Mrs.  Rachael  Foy,  the  widow  of  Enoch  Foy,  who 
lived  near  New  Bern,  was  very  harrowing.  Her  only  son,  Franklin,  was 
a  Scout  in  very  hazardous  service  for  the  army,  a  reward  being  offered 
by  the  Federals  for  his  capture.  As  Foy  was  "scouting"  in  the  district 
around  New  Bern  bringing  in  valuable  information,  the  Yankees,  think' 
ing  he  would  visit  his  mother  and  his  small  children,  (who  lived  in  that 
vicinity)  came  out  from  New  Bern  eight  hundred  strong.  In  their  ef' 
forts  to  capture  Foy,  they  surrounded  Mrs.  Rachael  Foy's  home,  locking 
her  and  her  grandchildren  in  a  room,  giving  all  her  keys  to  the  slaves, 
making  them  rulers  over  her  household.  They  camped  in  her  grove  for 
three  days,  not  allowing  anything  to  be  carried  to  her,  though  some  of  her 
faithful  servants  secretely  slipped  food  and  water.  Finally  the  soldiers 
marched  off  without  capturing  the  Scout  Foy.  In  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Gillette  they  encountered  Confederate  soldiers,  and  a  skirmish  took  place 
in  the  large  grove  of  this  home.  Mrs.  Gillette  was  very  ill  and  not  able 
to  be  moved  to  a  place  of  safety.  In  the  excitement  she  rolled  off  her 
bed,  a  bullet  passing  through  the  bed  where  she  had  been  lying! 


56  Worth  Carolina  Women 

The  story  of  how  a  young  girl  of  twelve  years  cleverly  outwitted  a 
Yankee  oficer  shows  that  even  the  children  were  on  the  alert  to  help  their 
Southland. 

The  home  of  Mrs.  Robert  Roundtree,  near  Kinston,  was  invaded  by 
the  Federal  soldiers  and  pillaged.  The  officer  in  charge  made  the  young 
daughter,  Rose,  (a  beautiful  girl  of  twelve)  sit  at  the  piano  and  play  for 
him.  After  this  he  forced  her  to  accompany  him  on  a  drive,  while  the 
frantic  mother,  unprotected,  could  only  plead  for  her  child  in  vain.  This 
girl,  tho  young  in  years,  sensed  her  danger,  and  as  she  and  her  captor 
drove  past  a  thick  wood  she  exclaimed,  "There's  where  my  brother  has 
his  company  of  Confederate  soldiers."  Her  ruse  worked  well,  for  the 
Yankee  officer  immediately  wheled,  threw  the  girl  from  the  vehicle  and 
dashed  madly  down  the  road.  After  this  it  was  observed  that  the  Fed- 
erals who  had  been  hanging  around  the  vicinity,  all  disappeared,  evident- 
ly believing  that  our  soldiers  were  secreted  there. 

This  girl  was  afterwards  Mrs.  William  Kennedy,  of  Kinston,  an  ac- 
complished musician  and  beauty  of  the  Sixties. 


The  story  of  the  services  of  beautiful  Daisy  Chaffee,  wife  of  Col. 
William  Lamb,  Commander  of  Ft.  Fisher,  (until  wounded)  stands  out 
as  one  of  the  brightest  chapters  of  the  history  of  the  women  in  North 
Carolina  in  the  Confederacy.  While  not  a  North  Carolina  woman,  this 
State  claimed  her  from  1863  until  the  end  of  the  war  in  '65.  Declin- 
ing the  use  of  several  spacious  homes  near  Wilmington,  Mrs.  Lamb  took 
up  her  abode  in  a  three  room  log  house  at  Ft.  Fisher,  in  order  to  be  near 
her  devoted  husband,  (to  sustain  and  cheer  him)  being  the  only  white 
woman  living  in  this  vicinity.  This  young  woman  gained  the  titles  of 
"Heroine  of  Ft.  Fisher,"  and  'Angel  of  the  Fort,"  by  serving  the  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers  and  sailors  there,  under  conditions  that  would  have 
tried  the  soul  of  most  women.  Her  bravery  was  fully  shown  during  the 
terriffic  bombardment  of  Ft.  Fisher  and  her  faith  was  sustained  through 
it  all.  It  was  Mrs.  Lamb  who  helped  to  tenderly  prepare  for  burial  the 
body  of  Rosa  Greenhow,  the  celebrated  Confederate  spy,  who  was 
drowned  off  Ft.  Fisher.  The  full  and  thrilling  story  of  Mrs.  Lamb  has 
been  recently  given  by  Louis  T.  Moore,  a  talented  historian  of  Wilming- 
ton. 


of  the  Confederacy  5"? 


CANTEEN  WORK 

"The  scene  shall  fade  from  my  memory  never, 
For  Dixie  Land,  hooray  forever." 

Little  bands  of  women  canteen  workers  in  all  our  principal  towns 
along  the  railroad  met  trains  bearing  the  wounded,  often  in  the  darkness 
of  night,  with  such  refreshments  as  they  could  provide,  and  often  clothed, 
fed  and  comforted  these  weary  men.  News  from  home  and  camp  was 
eagerly  exchanged  before  the  train  departed. 

Mrs.  J.  Henry  Smith,  of  Greensboro,  tells  of  the  memorable  night  of 
the  battle  of  Bentonville,  March  19,  '65,  when  the  war  in  its  stern  and 
startling  reality  came  to  their  very  door.  Without  warning  or  prepara' 
tion,  the  wounded  were  brought  to  Greensboro  in  such  numbers  as  to 
fill  the  churches,  court  house  and  every  available  space  in  the  town,  where 
beds  were  hastily  improvised.  To  that  clarion  call  the  women  of  Greens' 
boro  responded  with  one  accord.  With  tender  hearts  and  eager  hands 
they  nursed,  and  out  of  their  scanty  food  these  women  fed  these  dear 
soldiers,  each  neighboorhood  feeding  from  their  own  tables  the  body  of 
soldiers  nearest  them.  Soon  after  the  ill  and  wounded  were  transported 
to  the  historic  mansion  of  Edgeworth  Seminary,  which  was  used  as  a 
hospital. 

Many  interesting  incidents  connected  with  the  women  of  Greens- 
boro  have  been  preserved  through  a  "reminiscence"  of  Mrs.  Lettie  Walk- 
er, a  daughter  of  Governor  James  L.  Morehead,  one  of  North  Caro- 
lina's most  distinguished  sons.  Other  inicidents  of  Greensboro  have  been 
given  in  previous  articles,  and  these  may  be  added  to  the  history  of 
Guilford  county's  women  of  the  sixties.  Mrs.  James  Morehead  had  the 
honor  of  being  hostess  to  General  Beauregard  and  staff,  in  March  1865, 
at  her  mansion  "Bland  Wood/1  President  and  Mrs.  Davis  remained 
over  one  night  in  Greensboro,  declining  Governor  and  Mrs.  Morehead's 
invitation  "lest  the  Federal  troops  should  burn  the  house  that  sheltered 
him  for  one  night.'"  Members  of  the  Confederate  cabinet,  Alexander 
Stephens,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  were  guests  of  the  Moreheads 
after  Lee's  surrender,  as  they  journeyed  from  Richmond,  also  General 


58  Worth  Carolina  Women 

Lee's  brother,  who  commanded  army  stores  sent  from  Richmond.  The 
Federal  Generals,  Burnside,  Schofield,  and  Kilpatrick  with  their  staffs 
sent  word  to  the  Mayor  that  they  would  occupy  the  largest  house  in 
town  so  they  came  to  "Bland  Wood11  which  already  held  three  families 
•and  many  sick  soldiers.  The  story  has  been  told  before  of  how  Greens' 
boro'  women  met  the  trains  bearing  the  wounded  and^dying,  seeing  boxes 
filled  with  dead  bodies  piled  high  on  the  railroad  platform;  with  dying 
soldiers  lying  near  to  be  cared  for.  It  was  an  awful  experience  through 
which  Mrs.  Walker  and  these  brave  women  passed,  but  with  loving  care. 

Mrs.  M.  L.  Crutchfield  who  is  now  in  her  eighties  and  a  resident  of 
the  Masonic  home  at  Greensboro  tells  of  the  time  when  as  Margaret  Holt 
a  maiden  of  twenty  years  she  lived  at  Swepsonville  and  took  part  in 
feeding  the  army  of  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  army.  She  remembers 
with  remarkable  vividness  the  picture  of  that  day  in  which  the  Confed' 
erate  forces  crossed  Haw  river. 

Patriotic  citizens  here  and  there,  along  the  sparsely  settled  banks  of  the 
river,  were  scraping  together  all  the  supplies  that  could  be  found  in  those 
Southern  homes,  which  in  the  latter  part  of  the  conflict  had  in  many  in' 
stances  bare  cupboards.     The  soldiers  were  sick  and  hungry. 

"It  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year  when  the  soldiers  began  to  pass.  They 
were  hungry  and  some  of  them  were  half  naked.  Lots  of  them  had  no 
shoes  and  many  of  them  fell  down  with  all  kinds  of  sickness.11 

Long  into  the  night  Margaret  stood  at  her  post  heating  edibles  for  the 
soldiers  of  her  country.  Things  were  getting  low.  Bread  was  given 
out  without  much  gravy  on  it  and  then  from  the  cupboard  the  preserves 
were  brought  out,  the  preserves  that  had  been  made  a  few  weeks  before 
out  of  cane  sorghum. 

And  still  they  came,  barefoot  soldiers,  hungry  soldiers,  hatless  sol' 
diers,  marching  to  no  rythmic  drumbeat  nor  with  no  flying  banner  but 
just  "a  walking  along"  shuffling  some  of  the  more  fortunate  ones,  riding 
horses  that  were  nearly  broken  down.  The  crossing  of  the  river  was 
a  slow  process.  It  had  to  be  forded  over  a  raised  bed  that  was  just  wide 
enough  to  accommodate  one  vehicle  at  a  time. 

For  36  hours,  according  to  Mrs.  Crutchfield,  who  was  the  girl  at  the 
oven,  the  forces  was  continuously  filing  across  the  river.  Many  of  them 
never  got  across,  but  fell  by  the  way  with  one  of  the  terrible  diseases 
so  common  to  the  army  of  the  sixties.11 


of  the  Confederacy  5$ 

OTHER  INCIDENTS  OF  WOMENS'  WORK 

"They,  patient,  fed  the  patriotic  fires." 

From  the  pen  of  Miss  Georgia  Hicks  of  Faison  (an  ex-historian  of  this 
division)  we  have  some  interesting  history  of  the  war-days  in  Duplin 
County. 

"'Our  home  on  the  Goldsboro  and  Wilmington  road  was  the  highway 
of  the  passage  of  Confederate  troops  to  and  fro.  My  mother,  Mrs. 
Eliza  Hicks,  wife  of  Doctor  James  H.  Hicks,  was  an  ardent  Confederate, 
and  made  much  clothing  for  the  soldiers  from  her  plantation.  She  al- 
ways had  quantities  of  good  food  ready  for  our  soldiers  and  would  send 
it  to  the  road  gate  for  them  as  they  passed,  the  officers  coming  to  the 
house.  Her  home  made  one  of  the  stations  for  couriers,  who  were  sta- 
tioned every  ten  miles,  and  carried  messages,  day  and  night.  Mother 
reserved  one  room  in  the  house  for  these  Confederate  Couriers.  In 
March  '65,  the  army  of  Generals  Terry  and  Sherman  came  to  Duplin 
county  on  their  way  to  Raleigh,  Terry  coming  from  Fort  Fisher,  and 
Sherman  from  South  Carolina.  I  have  heard  mother  say  that  General 
Terry,  (whose  headquarters  were  at  the  home  of  my  sister,  Mrs.  C.  D. 
Hill)  was  always  kind  and  a  thorough  gentleman,  as  were  the  members 
of  his  staff,  very  different  from  Sherman  and  his  officers.  Mrs.  Hill 
rendered  real  service  to  one  of  Terry's  staff,  who  was  desperately  ill,  in 
nursing  him,  and  he  attributed  his  recovery  largely  to  her.  The  be- 
havior of  Sherman's  army  around  Faison  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  treat- 
ment of  the  people  whereever  they  went. 

In  the  home  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Pearsal  of  Duplin  county,  her  aunt,  aged 
and  ill,  was  thrown  from  her  bed  on  the  floor,  so  that  they  could  look 
for  valuables  they  thought  hidden  there. 

I  was  a  school-girl  at  Saint  Mary's  in  Raleigh  and  I  will  never  forget 
the  feeling  of  the  girls,  when  Johnston's  army  passed  by.  The  Federal 
general  Howard,  was  encamped  in  Saint  Mary's  grove  for  weeks,  and  we 
were  in  a  state  of  excitement  all  the  time." 

There  were  seven  Hicks  boys,  of  the  Faison  community,  in  the  war 


60  North  Carolina  Women 

between  the  States,  and  each  played  his  part  valiantly.  They  were: 
Capt.  Lewis,  Doctor  John,  Lieut.  A.  D.,  Elias,  John,  Lyde,  and  Albert. 
A  very  thrilling  escape  from  death  by  the  Yankees  was  made  by 
Doctor  James  H.  Hicks,  the  father  of  Miss  Georgia  Hicks,  the  narrator 
of  the  above  incidents.  Sherman's  army  was  encamped  near  the  home 
of  Mrs.  James  H.  Hicks.  This  corageous  woman  with^a  sorrowful  heart 
saw  her  husband,  that  splendid  physician,  carried  away  in  the  night  by 
the  soldiers  on  the  pretext  of  attending  a  sick  man.  Mrs.  Hicks  pled  with 
him  not  to  go  but  his  one  thought  was  to  relieve  suffering.  He  was  car' 
ried  far  away  and  when  he  was  brought  by  hours  later,  he  had  the  appear^, 
ance  of  a  man  that  had  almost  seen  death.  These  ruffians  hung  this  fine 
old  gentleman  up  by  the  neck  twice,  in  their  endeavor  to  secure  informa' 
tion  as  to  hidden  valuables.  They  finally  released  their  victim  who  re- 
fused to  divulge  his  secrets.  Doctor  Hicks,  never  recovered  from  this  ter' 
rible  shock  and  his  wife  never  mentioned  it,  for  she  was  almost  prostrated 
over  his  treatment  by  these  ruffians.  In  the  same  house  lived  Miss 
Rachael  Mclver,  "sister  cousin"  of  Mrs.  Hicks,  who  said  always  that  she 
never  knew  why,  but  she  was  never  afraid  of  the  Yankee  soldiers.  One 
day  when  a  man  came  down  stairs  with  his  arms  full  of  silk  dresses,  she 
ordered  him  to  put  them  down.  He  laughed  loud,  jumped  on  his  horse 
and  galloped  away. 


Though  not  in  the  direct  path  of  the  invaders,  the  old  town  of  Pitts- 
boro,  Chatham  county,  was  filled  with  women  who  refugeed  there  from 
the  Cape  Fear  section.  These  assisted  the  Pittsboro  women  in  making 
garments  and  knitted  for  the  soldiers  their  Aid  Society  being  active  in 
keeping  the  boys  at  the  front  supplied.  Mrs.  John  Jackson  (Lucy 
Worth)  inherited  some  of  the  executive  ability  of  her  father,  Jonathan 
Worth,  Reconstruction  Governor  and  War  Treasurer  of  the  State,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  inventive  women  of  this  community,  showing  re- 
markable  skill  in  her  work.  She  cut  up  her  handsome  carpets,  as  did 
many  other  Southern  women,  and  devised  many  things  to  cheer  these 
poor  men.  Her  daughter,  Bettie  London,  (Mrs.  Henry  A.)  has  kept 
up  her  mothers  enthusiasm  in  the  Cause,  and  as  a  devoted  member  and 
former  president  of  the  N.  C.  Division  U.  D.  C,  she  has  paid  loving 


of  the  Confederacy  61 

tribute  to  the  men  who  followed  Lee,  and  whose  soldier  boy  husband 
carried  the  last  message  at  Appomattox,  to  "cease  firing.'1'' 

The  young  women  of  the  London  family  in  Pittsboro  were  among 
the  active  workers  of  this  section  and  gave  comfort  to  many  a  needy 
family  of  the  men  in  the  army.  Miss  Mary  London  (later  Mrs.  Josh 
T.  James  of  Wilmington)  showed  the  courageous  spirit  of  many  South' 
ern  girls  when  threatened  by  Sherman's  bummers  with  a  pistol  at  her  head 
to  disclose  the  family  silver  (this  at  a  friend's  in  Wadesboro.) 


Old  Salem  was  far  removed  from  the  seat  of  warfare  but  the  women 
of  this  Moravian  community  were  very  active  in  their  work.  Their 
Soldier's  Aid  society  was  early  organised  and  a  description  of  her  flag 
presentation  is  given  further  on  in  this  story. 

The  famous  Female  Academy  of  old  Salem  was  kept  open  through 
the  entire  war  and  opened  its  doors,  as  did  the  one  in  Charlotte,  to  girls 
who  were  refugeeing  from  eastern  Carolina. 

Many  older  women  found  refuge  in  this  hospitable  town,  from  the 
seat  of  warfare.  Occasionally  bands  of  Yankee  soldiers  came  through 
Forsythe  County  and  these  Confederates  did  not  escape  being  pillaged. 
They  gave  generously  of  their  provisions  to  help  feed  Lee's  army  and 
their  soldiers  fought  valiantly  in  the  field. 


Splendid  Services  of  a  Kinston  Woman 


A  woman  of  Kinston,  a  Northern  woman  by  birth,  but  who  married 
a  Southern  man  in  1857,  deserves  to  be  remembered  as  one  of  our  wo' 
men  of  this  State  who  bore  an  important  part  in  the  war  between  the 
States. 

This  was  Mrs.  Anderson  Roscoe  Miller  (Dellia  Maria  Henry),  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  H.  O.  Hyatt,  an  honored  member  of  the  U.  D.  C.  in 
Kinston.  Being  left  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  her  husband  Dr. 
Miller,  volunteering  at  the  first  call  of  arms  this  young  woman  was 
placed  in  a  most  difficult  position.  Being  a  Northern  woman  made 
both  sides  suspect  that  she  was  a  spy  and  she  suffered  many  unjust  per- 


62  7>{orth.  Carolina  "Women 

secutions.  When  the  Northern  troops  first  entered  Kinston  and  were 
looting  the  town  Mrs.  Miller  succeeded  in  securing  from  the  Federal 
General  a  guard  for  the  whole  town  explaining  that  she  was  the  daughter 
of  a  leading  Mason  of  Vermont.  Her  timely  intervention  prevented  an 
attack  on  the  young  ladies  of  Kinston,  whom  the  marauders  were  threat- 
ening. Mrs.  Hyatt  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Miller,  in  a  most  interesting 
story  of  her  mother's  experiences  during  the  war,  says : 

"Kinston  was  a  battle  ground  twice  during  the  war  and  was  occu- 
pied frequently  by  both  Southern  and  Northern  troops.  Whenever  there 
were  soldiers  in  the  hospital  my  mother  took  or  sent  soups  and  other 
things  to  the  hospital  every  day.  Once  when  the  town  was  evacuated 
hurriedly  by  the  Southern  troops  she  felt  for  three  days  she  must  still  go 
to  the  hospital.  On  the  third  day  she  told  her  servant,  Aunt  Harriet, 
she  could  stand  it  no  longer  she  must  go.  When  she  arrived  she  found 
nine  Southern  soldiers  too  sick  to  be  removed  who  had  been  without  food 
or  water  for  three  days.  She  and  Aunt  Harriet  bathed,  dressed  their 
wounds  and  fed  them. 

"My  mother  went  home  to  visit  her  parents  in  the  summer  of  '61, 
taking  me  with  her.  I  was  taken  with  diphtheria  and  at  the  same  time 
she  received  a  letter  telling  her  not  to  attempt  to  return  as  the  lines  were 
practically  closed.  Her  people  tried  to  keep  her  but  she  would  not  stay. 
She  said  "I  have  cast  my  fortunes  there  and  I  must  go."  She  left  me 
sick  and  the  comforts  of  a  safe  home  to  take  the  place  she  felt  duty 
called  her  to  take.  Most  of  the  first  families  of  the  town  who  were  able 
to  do  so  refugeed  to  the  western  part  of  the  State  to  avoid  the  terrors 
and  depredations  of  war  and  she  was  throughout  the  whole  war  in  a  po- 
sition to  defend  and  comfort  those  who  did  not  refugee.  She  gave 
her  whole  heart  to  this  service,  and  was  a  great  help  to  many  in  des- 
perate need. 

"About  the  first  of  February  in  '65,  she  went  to  Vermont  to  bring  me 
home.  She  carried  tobacco  beneath  a  false  bottom  in  her  trunk,  which 
she  sold  in  New  York  to  help  pay  her  expenses.  Returning  she  filled 
the  space  with  $25.00  worth  of  needles,  which  were  long  before  this  time 
very  scarce  in  the  South.  Going,  she  drove  through  the  country  to  New- 
bern  by  way  of  Trenton.  Returning,  at  Newbern  she  found  the  largest 
force  of  Yankees  that  had  ever  been  there.  She  tried  for  several  days 
to  get  through  the  lines  with  me  and  almost  despaired  of  doing  so.     Fin- 


of  the  Confederacy  63 

ally  she  met  on  the  street,  by  accident,  an  old  friend  who  was  an  officer 
in  the  Union  army.  She  told  him  she  was  trying  to  get  home.  He 
said  "Our  orders  are  very  strict.  No  one  is  to  leave  town  until  our 
next  move  is  made.  She  insisted  that  he  take  her  to  the  commander 
anyway.  This  officer  asked  her  if  she  would  be  willing  to  go  up  the 
river  with  the  gungoats  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  She  said  "If  it  is  God's 
will  I  shall  live  to  get  home  with  my  child,  if  it  is  not  I  may  as  well 
die  in  one  place  as  another.1,1  She  believed  in  a  personal  God  and  pre 
tecting  angels.  So  she  and  I  came  up  the  river  with  gunboats  that  were 
throwing  shells  on  the  town.  My  mother  begged  the  officer  in  charge 
of  the  boat  to  shoot  up  the  river  instead  of  at  the  town  so  as  not  to  hurt 
the  women  and  children,  which  he  did,  he  said,  for  a  brave  woman. 
She  had  to  clutch  me  tightly  every  time  a  gun  was  fired  to  keep  me  from 
jumping  overboard.  We  landed  after  the  battle  near  the  old  Graham 
Place.  The  river  bridge  had  been  burned  down  by  the  Confederates  to 
retard  pursuit,  and  we  had  to  cross  the  river  on  boats. 

"My  father  came  from  the  war  ruined  in  health,  his  nerves  were  pros- 
trated,  and  for  two  or  three  years  he  was  so  ill  that  he  did  not  even  wish 
to  work.  How  my  mother  put  her  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  taking  the  small 
amount  of  life  insurance  left  by  her  father  and  opening  a  millinery  store 
in  the  parlor  of  her  home,  is  a  story  of  splendid  determination  of  a  wo- 
man. It  was  said  she  was  the  only  person  who  went  into  business  im- 
mediately after  the  war  who  did  not  go  into  bankruptcy.  She  was  a 
skillful  manager  but  she  was  also  a  rigid  economist  when  in  debt.  She 
believed  in  education  and  even  through  the  trying  days  of  the  war  and 
reconstruction  she  found  time  to  teach  her  children.  She  originated  the 
movement  for  the  first  school  in  Kinston  subscribing  the  first  twenty-five 
dollars.  Though  ill  in  health,  she  continued  her  work  until  it  was  com- 
pleted, her  determination  and  courage  winning  the  admiration  of  all 
who  knew  her.  Her  brother  William  was  on  the  train  once  and  over- 
heard some  men  discussing  her.  They  said  "She  is  the  ablest  woman  in 
North  Carolina.'"  Many  persons  who  have  had  business  dealings  with 
her  have  said,  "She  was  the  finest  woman  I  have  ever  known." 

"She  said,  "I  have  lived  a  thousand  deaths;  it  is  easy  for  me  to  die.' 


64  J^lorih  Carolina  "Women 

"O  yes,  I  am  a  Southern  girl,  and  I  glory  in  the  name." 


Mrs.  Ida  Wilkins  of  Weldon,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  honored 
members  of  the  North  Carolina  Division  of  the  U:  D.  C,  gives  us  a 
glimpses  of  the  sixties  when  she  was  a  young  girl.  She  says,  "There  were 
four  companies  known  as  Light  Infantry  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
between  the  States,  one  was  from  Fayetteville,  one  from  Wilmington, 
one  from  Wilson,  one  from  Halifax.  In  April  1861,  the  Halifax  com' 
pany  were  quartered  in  Weldon  for  quite  a  while  being  instructed  and 
preparing  for  service.  How  handsome  they  appeared  to  my  girlish  eyes 
in  their  gay  uniforms  and  plumed  hats.  There  was  great  anxiety  as  to 
which  regiment  they  would  be  assigned  to  hoping  they  would  be  assigned 
to  the  first  North  Carolina  regiment. 

The  Enfield  Blues  another  old  company  from  Halifax  county  was  the 
one  assigned  to  the  first  regiment  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the 
Light  Infantry  boys. 

Those  were  troublous  times,  and  the  memory  of  them  is  still  very  vivid 
to  me.  The  history  of  these  four  Light  Infantry  companies  should  live 
and  the  fact  that  they  were  all  organized  companies  prior  to  1860  proves 
their  service,  which  was  further  emphasized  most  valiently  in  the  Con- 
federate  army. 

The  "Hornets  Nest  Rifles"  of  Charlotte  also  came  through  Weldon 
on  the  way  to  the  front.  The  file  leader  carrying  on  his  bayonet  a  big 
hornets  nest  which  attracted  much  attention. 

The  women  of  Weldon  gave  loving  service  in  nursing  the  wounded, 
as  a  wayside  hospital  was  established  here  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
Weldon  being  on  the  direct  route  of  transportation. 

The  Methodist  church  was  used  as  a  hospital,  and  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Hamlin  Allen  was  filled  with  the  soldiers. 

Our  women  were  active  and  untiring  all  through  the  war  and  we 
young  girls  tried  to  assist  the  older  ones  in  their  work  for  the  boys  in 
gray. 


Miss  Annie  Ellison  of  Coleraine,  Bertie  county,  was  one  of  the  most 
active  young  women  of  that  section  in  work  for  the  soldiers.     She  travel' 


of  the  Confederacy  65 

ed  over  her  entire  county  on  horseback  alone,  soliciting  clothing  for  the 
needy  soldiers.  When  her  soldier  sweetheart,  Lt.  Col.  Thomas  Sharp, 
returned  home  after  the  war  he  found  that  this  lovely  young  girl  had 
been  called  to  the  Beyond. 

Mrs.  John  Mercer  of  Brunswick  county,  was  one  of  the  brave  mothers 
of  the  sixties,  and  though  she  was  an  invalid  when  her  husband  died, 
and  her  two  sons  volunteered  for  the  war,  she  corageously  kept  the 
"home  fires  burning"     She  lived  to  be  91  years  old. 

Early  in  the  war  a  wayside  hospital  was  established  by  the  State  Medi- 
cal  Department  at  Wilson,  among  other  towns  accessible  to  the  railroad. 
The  women  of  this  little  town  with  their  usual  enthusiasm  (which  has 
endured  until  today),  responded  with  Aid  Societies  at  the  first  call  for 
troops.  The  Wilson  Light  Infantry  was  one  of  the  honorable  military 
organizations  in  North  Carolina  before  the  war,  and  the  girls  of  Wilson 
were  busy  equipping  these  boys. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  when  everything  was  in  chaos  the  women  were 
terrified  because  the  town  came  very  nearly  being  burned,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  two  Yankee  prisoners  had  been  put  to  death  by  Wheeler's 
men.  The  quick,  cool  command  of  the  situation  by  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Blount, 
the  mayor,  saved  these  women  and  children  their  homes,  as  the  Federals 
were  made  to  see  that  the  citizens  of  the  town  were  not  responsible. 


Reign  of  Terror  in  Elizabeth  City 


"They  played  their  part  'mid  saddening  scenes, 
'Wars  cloud  on  land  and  sea." 


We  have  read  of  the  sufferings  of  the  women  of  New  Bern,  Wash- 
ington, Fayetteville,  and  many  other  places  of  our  beloved  State,  but  the 
women  of  Elisabeth  City  in  its  reign  of  terror  have  few  rivals  in  the 
agony  of  the  sixties.  That  gifted  historian,  Col.  Richard  Creecy,  has 
left  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  trying  period  before  and  during  the  bom- 
bardment of  Elizabeth  City,  early  in  February,  1862.  The  women  of 
this  town  had  zealously  cared  for  the  wounded  and  sick  from  Roanoke 
Island  and  Hatteras,  and  when  the  outrage  to  life  and  property  began 


66  Worth  Carolina  "Women 

they  felt  paralysed.  As  the  bombardment  began  these  delicately  ma' 
tured  women  bravely  started  for  the  country  to  seek  places  of  safety. 
They  were  afoot,  shoe  tops  deep  in  mud  and  slush,  bedraggled,  wretched. 
Mrs.  Elliott  and  Mrs.  Martin  with  their  children  started  on  foot  for 
Oxford,  while  many  mothers  were  vainly  looking  for  their  children 
amongst  the  terrible  pandemonium.  The  worst  features  of  human  na- 
ture  was  developed  on  every  side  with  its  horors  of  bummers,  pillage  and 
rapine.  This  was  a  dark  and  bloody  occasion  and  has  scarcely  a  parallel 
in  the  State's  history.  How  these  women  of  the  Albermarle  section 
lived  through  those  days  will  never  be  known.     All  honor  to  them. 

The  ladies  of  the  beautiful  home,  "Cedar  Vale,"  took  part  in  an  im- 
portant event  that  occurred  in  the  vicinity  of  Elisabeth  City.  These 
ladies  entertained  one  hundred  Confederate  prisoners,  after  effecting 
their  escape  from  a  Federal  transport  which  was  carrying  them  to  a 
Northern  fortress. 

Landing  at  Cape  Henry,  after  they  had  seized  the  ship  which  was 
manned  by  twenty  Federal  officers,  these  hundred  Confederates  crossed 
the  Pasquotank  river,  going  on  through  the  swamp,  and  landed  on 
Yeopin  creek,  back  of  "Cedar  Vale." 

All  the  women  in  the  neighborhood  sent  provisions  of  all  kinds  to 
these  poor  soldiers,  besides  sending  cars  and  wagons  to  hasten  them  on 
their  way.  They  were  carried  by  river  to  the  railroad,  thence  on  to 
Richmond. 

An  interesting  incident  is  given  to  us  by  Mrs.  Molly  E.  Fearing  of 
Elizabeth  City: 

"My  husband,  Captain  Fearing,  had  charge  of  Fort  Barstow  at  Roa- 
noke Island  and  made  a  brave  resistance.  He  stood  by  his  gun  until 
blood  ran  from  his  ears  and  nose  but  he  did  not  stop  fighting.  Gen- 
eral Burnside  the  Federal  commander  said,  "Bring  me  that  plucky  little 
rebel,  I  want  to  see  him  and  introduce  him  to  my  staff.'1''  There  was  a 
Fearing  on  General  Burnside's  staff  also.  A  few  months  later,  as  my 
husband  was  on  a  furlough  from  his  wounds,  he  was  arrested  for  a  Con- 
federate spy.  Just  as  they  were  ready  to  put  him  to  death  a  Captain 
from  Burnside's  staff  happened  to  come  up  and  recognize  Capt.  Fearing, 
said,  "I  will  answer  for  this  man,  he  is  not  a  spy,  he  is  a  regular  commis- 
sioned officer  in  the  Confederate  service." 

My  mother  had  a  most  exciting  time  when  she  ran  the  blockade  to 


of  the  Confederacy  67 

get  quinine  and  sugar  for  her  children,  leaving  a  six  weeks  old  baby  at 
home.  She  was  stopped  at  the  line  of  pickets  who  said  her  pass  was 
not  for  the  whole  way. 

Though  we  have  mentioned  a  number  of  the  towns  and  communities 
who  bore  the  brunt  of  warfare,  yet  there  are  many  communities,  es' 
pecially  along  the  coast,  which  suffered  more  than  history  can  ever  re- 
cord. The  women  who  heard  the  boom  of  cannons  of  Federal  gunboats 
every  night,  as  they  sang  their  babies  to  sleep,  little  knew  whether  their 
home  would  be  shelled  before  morning. 


Around  Edenton  and  the  Albemarle  Section 

(The  Ironclad  Ship  "Albemarle"  Christened  by  Miss  Spottswood) 

Miss  Mary  E.  Moore,  one  of  our  honored  "Daughters1'  from  Eden- 
ton, gives  these  interesting  recollection  of  the  north-eastern  part  of  the 
State. 

"I  have  been  requested  to  furnish  some  reminiscences  from  this  section 
of  the  war  between  the  States.  Reluctantly,  I  draw  aside  the  veil  of 
the  past  and  live  over  again  those  dark  days  of  the  sixties  that  met  me 
at  the  threshold  of  womanhood. 

"For  months  our  country  had  been  in  the  throes  of  unrest;  rumors 
of  war  from  all  sides  that  finally  culminated  in  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumpter,  that  ushered  in  the  crudest  war  of  the  19th  century.  Father 
against  son,  brother  against  brother,  friend  against  friend. 

"The  time  is  long  past — 
The  scene  is  afar" 

and  many  incidents  of  those  times  have  faded  from  my  memory,  but  there 
are  others  burnt  into  my  brain  that  can  never  fade. 

"I  recall  one  bright  April  day  in  1861,  the  militia  of  the  Co.  gathered 
on  our  green  to  raise  companies  to  defend  the  homes  our  fathers  gave  us 
and  claim  the  States  rights  that  are  ours.  Addresses  were  made  explain- 
ing the  issues  of  the  day,  while  enrolling  officers  wrote  the  names  of 
volunters  eager  for  the  fray.     Now  and  again  they  met  with  a  snag  as 


68  North  Carolina  'Women 

I  recall  this  incident  an  officer,  book  in  hand,  approached  a  youngster 
who  had  probably  never  before  been  out  of  sight  of  home,  for  those  were 
not  the  days  of  automobiles,  "Come  my  boy,  give  us  your  name  and  we 
will  make  a  soldier  of  you.1'  "No,  siree,  I  don't  want  to  fight."  "Why 
man,  your  honor  is  involved,  what  is  life  worth  without  your  honor?1'' 
"Wuth!  what's  my  life  wuth!,  why  it's  wuth  a  heap."  With  great  dis' 
gust  the  poor  officer  turned  away  and  said,  "Well,  in  Heaven's  name, 
go  home  and  enjoy  it." 

"We  raised  two  full  companies,  one  for  six  months,  commanded  by 
Capt.  James  K.  Marshall,  the  other  commanded  by  Capt.  T.  L.  Skinner, 
enlisted  for  the  war,  had  the  proud  distinction  of  being  mustered  in  as 
Co.  A.,  1st  Regt.  N.  C.  State  Troops.  Of  these  many  never  returned. 
Their  Captain  and  1st  Lieut,  fell  near  Richmond  and  lie  buried  in  St. 
Pauls  Church  yard,  Edenton.  The  strength  of  our  manhood  gone,  the 
old  men  and  boys,  some  only  twelve  and  fourteen,  formed  a  home  guard, 
doing  picket  and  courier  duty,  and  running  the  blockade  with  what  we 
could  raise  to  help  feed  the  army,  for  with  the  fall  of  Roanoke,  we  were 
in  Yankee  lines,  our  waters  often  filled  with  gunboats  and  the  only  way 
we  could  reach  what  we  called  Dixie  was  by  running  the  blockade  across 
Chowan  river. 

"General  Beauregard's  call  for  the  bells  to  be  cast  into  cannon  which 
gave  rise  to  the  beautiful  poem,  "Melt  the  Bells,"  met  with  prompt  res' 
ponse,  and  quickly  were  gathered  together  the  Episcopal  and  Methodist 
bells,  town  clock,  Academy  and  ship-yard  dinner  bells,  preserving  ket' 
ties,  everything  that  contained  bell  metal  and  shipped  to  Richmond,  cast 
into  cannon,  formed  into  a  battery  and  manner  by  our  native  boys,  under 
the  command  of  Capt.  Wm.  Bedham.  They  did  good  service,  never 
suffered  defeat,  surrendered  at  the  close  of  the  war.  The  last  shot  fired 
by  old  St.  Paul,  was  picked  up  by  one  of  the  company,  and  now  rests 
as  a  priceless  treasure  in  the  vault  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Edenton.  The 
Baptist  bell  was  not  given,  not  from  any  want  of  patriotism,  but  it  was 
built  into  the  spire  of  the  church,  which  required  carpenters  to  take  it 
down — we  had  none,  they  were  all  where  they  should  have  been,  at  the 
front. 

"These  were  dark  days,  but  we  women  worked  on  and  hoped  on,  till 
our  noble  Stonewall  Jackson  fell,  when  we  felt  the  die  was  cast. 

"There  were  many  incidents  I  might  recall,  for  memory's  storehouse 


of  the  Confederacy  59 

holds  many,  some  ludicrous,  some  pathetic,  did  I  not  fear  I  might  grow 
prolix,  for  I  have  yet  to  tell  the  most  important  of  all;  the  naval  battle 
I  witnessed  on  our  beautiful  Albemarle  sound. 

"May  the  5th,  1864,  Capt.  Cook,  commander  of  the  Albemarle,  more 
familiarly  known  as  the  Ram,  steamed  down  the  Roanoke  river,  followed 
in  the  distance  by  two  tenders,  the  Bombshell  and  Cotton  Plant.  Soon 
the  Yankee  squadron,  seven  well-armed  gun-boats,  the  Mattabessett,  Sas- 
sacus,  Wyhisine,  Whitehead,  Miami,  Com.  Hull  and  Ceres,  hove  in  sight, 
Capt.  Smith  in  command.  At  two  o'clock,  they  approached  in  double 
line  of  battle,  the  Mattabessett  in  advance.  They  proceeded  to  surround 
the  Albemarle  and  hurled  at  her  their  heaviest  shot,  only  about  1 00  yards 
away.  The  Albemarle  responded  at  once,  but  her  boats  were  soon  shot 
away  and  smokestack  riddled.  Still  she  fought  on,  tho  one  of  her  guns 
was  silenced  and  steel  plating  broken.  The  Sassacus  kept  in  constant 
motion,  coming  nearer  each  time,  till  seizing  her  best  opportunity,  with 
all  steam  on,  rammed  the  Albemarle  just  above  the  water  mark,  causing 
every  timber  to  creak,  and  near  sent  her  to  the  bottom  with  all  on  board. 
Soon  our  brave  little  gunboat  righted  herself  and  fired  a  broadside  at  her 
enemy,  with  such  telling  effect,  tearing  its  way  thru  from  stem  to  stern, 
bursting  her  boiler,  scalding  to  death  seven  of  her  men  and  wounding 
many  others. 

"Thus  the  battle  kept  up  till  five  o'clock,  when  we  saw  the  Albe- 
marle slowly  steaming  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  not  beaten  for  she 
still  held  her  own,  but  her  fuel  was  exhausted  and  to  keep  up  steam 
to  reach  Plymouth,  necessitated  tearing  away  all  inside  woodwork  which 
together  with  bedding,  clothing  and  provisions,  was  cast  into  the  fur- 
nace. Thus  our  brave  little  Albemarle  escaped  capture  and  landed  at 
Plymouth,  covered  with  wounds  and  with  glory. 

"The  war  was  nearing  its  close,  tho  some  of  our  bloodiest  battles  were 
yet  to  be  fought.  We  were  worn  out,  and  in  April,  1856,  overcome 
by  numbers,  and  to  save  further  sacrifices  of  life,  our  ever  faithful  Lee, 
grand  even  in  defeat,  surrendered. 

"Soon  the  remnants  of  our  army  reached  home  with 

"Bro\en  hearts  and  bro\en  hopes 
But  now  'tis  Auld  lang  syne." 
"Never  again  will  the  Stars  and  Bars  wave  over  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy.    That  dream  is  past.     The  Blue  and  the  Gray  are  merged 


70  Horih  Carolina  Women 

into  the  Khaki,  worn  by  our  boys  overseas,  where  bearing  aloft  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  the  proudest  flag  that  floats  over  land  and  sea,  they  turned 
the  tide  of  battle  in  the  great  world  war." 


Miss  Lena  H.  Smith,  the  historian  of  the  U.  D.  C.  Chapter,  Scotland 
Neck,  has  written  a  most  interesting  story  of  the  building  of  the  Ironclad 
Albemarle.  Her  father,  Peter  E.  Smith,  had  charge  of  the  construction 
of  this  famous  North  Carolina  vessel  and  her  uncle,  Gilbert  Elliott,  the 
finances.  Miss  Smith  tells  of  the  launching  of  this  vessel  at  its  navy 
yard  on  the  river  below  Halifax.  This  was  an  occasion  of  great  im- 
portance and  Miss  Mary  Spottswood  was  the  Sponsor  who  christened 
the  ship  by  breaking  a  bottle  of  wine  on  her  prow  and  naming  her  "The 
Albemarle." 


of  the  Confederacy  *H 


HEROIC  WOMEN  OF  WESTERN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


"For  they  were  loyal,  and  they  were  brave, 
And  we  can  now  but  spea\  their  praise." 

The  women  of  the  western  part  of  North  Carolina  were  amongst  the 
most  heroic  and  loyal  of  our  State,  ever  ready  for  noble  work  in  the  Con' 
federacy. 

While  the  women  of  the  eastern  and  central  part  of  North  Carolina 
were  suffering  every  indignity  and  persecution  at  the  hands  of  Sher-. 
man's  "bummers"  the  women  further  west  were  enduring  similar  treat- 
ment from  General  Stoneman  and  Col.  Kirk's  troops.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  cases  in  which  real  heroism  was  shown. 

When  the  men  of  Western  North  Carolina  joined  the  forces  of  the 
Confederate  army,  their  women  folk  were  not  only  left  unprotected  with- 
in the  line  of  battle  or  the  famous  March  of  Sherman  to  the  Sea,  but  were 
in  danger  of  those  unprincipled  men  who  could  not  join  either  side  and 
laid  out  to  evade  the  law  and  lived  by  robbing  women  on  whom  the  re- 
sponsibility of  providing  food  and  clothing  for  their  children  rested. 

This  thrilling  story  is  given  by  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  who  received  it  from  the  lips  of  his  grand- 
mother, Mrs.  William  Cain,  (Sarah  Jane  Bailey)  a  daughter  of  Judge 
Lancaster  Bailey,  of  Asheville,  N.  C. 

"In  March  1865,  anticipating  trouble  for  the  town  of  Asheville,  and 
its  inhabitants,  General  James  G.  Martin,  advanced  to  meet  the  Federal 
Commander,  General  Gillam,  in  order  to  make  the  best  terms  possible. 
The  meeting  was  cordial,  and  about  noon  the  northern  detachment 
marched  away.  After  supper  that  night,  the  Bailey  family  heard  a  ter- 
rible noise  and  discovered  that  it  was  northern  marauders  from  Gil- 
liam's division,  who  were  riding  up  on  the  porch  on  horseback.  They 
smashed  open  the  glass  doors  of  the  verandah  and  struck  heavily  upon 
the  head  of  the  venerable  Judge  Bailey,  who  had  seized  a  gun  to  drive 
them  back.  They  rifled  the  trunks  and  boxes;  took  the  wedding  rings 
of  mother  and  daughter,  as  well  as  wedding  gifts,  jewelry,  and  gold  and 


72  Worth  Carolina  Women 

silver  coins  which  they  found — all  the  while  screaming,  threatening,  yell- 
ing, with  brandished  torches.  Thomas  Bailey,  the  Judge's  son,  sur- 
rendered  to  save  his  father's  life  and  went  along  with  the  Yankee  ban- 
ditti  as  their  prisoner.  They  wanted  to  return  and  "kill  the  old  man," 
but  were  disuaded  by  their  prisoner.  Nevertheless  they  returned  and 
fired  several  shots  through  the  door  at  the  courageous^  old  judge  who 
narrowly  escaped  his  life.  Next  morning,  several  villanious  looking  Yan- 
kees  came  and  took  away  the  family's  supply  of  bacon.  The  judge  was 
insulted  on  the  street  by  a  negro  in  blue  uniform;  Mrs.  Henry  Middleton 
literally  fought  with  the  Yankee  soldiers  in  the  effort  to  prevent  them 
from  stealing  her  husband's  watch;  and  Mrs.  James  W.  Patton,  who  was 
wearing  her  watch,  was  choked  almost  to  death  by  a  Yankee  soldier  who 
tore  it  from  her. 

"Thomas  Bailey  was  not  unkindly  treated  by  his  captors;  and  doubt' 
less  because  of  the  inconvenience  of  guarding  him,  they  released  him 
before  reaching  Tennessee.  There  prevailed  in  Asheville  a  reign  of  terror, 
however.  Negro  troops  under  General  Howley  committed  nameless 
atrocities  in  the  neighborhood  of  Asheville;  and  those  apprehended  were 
tried  by  drum  head  court  martial,  and  four  of  them  shot.  Judge  Bailey 
went  to  see  the  Federal  General  Brown,  to  protect  against  the  outrageous 
conduct  of  his  troops;  but,  although  profuse  in  promises  to  remedy  mat' 
ter,  the  befuddled  general  was  too  intoxicated  to  remember  to  keep  them. 
Eventually  a  young  Federal  officer,  of  a  Michigan  company,  was  secured 
as  a  personal  guard;  and  under  his  kind  and  efficient  guard,  further 
outrages  were  prevented." 

Mrs  James  W.  Patton  and  her  sister,  of  Asheville,  were  dragged  from 
their  sick  beds,  their  persons  searched  and  their  valuables  taken. 

Some  of  the  bravest,  most  cheerful  women  of  the  Confederacy  were 
the  wives  of  seven  Irish  men  who  entered  the  army  from  their  settlement 
near  Round  Knob,  where  they  had  been  employed  on  the  unfinished 
railroad  to  the  mountains.  Every  week  two  of  these  women  walked 
eighteen  miles  over  a  rough  road,  to  Asheville,  to  ask  for  help  for  the 
destitute  families  of  that  vicinity.  Mrs.  Nicholas  Woodfin,  one  of 
Asheville's  splendid  workers,  set  aside  a  room  for  their  use  where  they 
could  rest  after  their  arduous  journey  and  assisted  them  in  "collecting". 
These  Irish  women  by  their  amusing  wit,  gave  moral  support  and  cheer 
to  many  women  who  were  of  a  higher  social  sphere. 


of  the  Confederacy  % 

One  woman  of  Buncombe  county,  who  was  alone  with  five  children 
and  an  old  colored  man,  had  finished  her  winter's  supply  of  cloth  and 
thread  and  was  making  a  pot  of  dye  in  the  yard  one  day  so  that  the  cloth 
could  be  dyed  and  dried  before  the  night  of  the  following  day.  After 
boiling  her  bark  or  leaves  she  had  removed  it  from  the  liquid  and  was 
coming  from  the  house  with  a  handful  of  the  precious  copperas  to 
thoroughly  dissolve  over  night,  when  she  saw  a  group  of  men  approach' 
ing.  These  men  were  a  band  of  the  much-dreaded  robbers.  They 
forced  the  woman,  children  and  colored  man  to  sit  quietly  while  they 
tore  all  the  blankets  from  the  beds,  took  her  best  clothes  and  all  of  the 
baby's  clothes,  her  choicest  dishes,  and  the  undyed  cloth  and  thread. 
Nothing  was  left  her  but  the  pot  of  liquid  and  the  remains  of  the  cop- 
peras which  had  nearly  all  melted  in  her  clinched  hand. 


Miss  Emma  L.  Rankin,  one  of  Lenoir's  most  beloved  women,  who  has 
gone  to  rest,  has  left  a  host  of  interesting  experiences  of  Stoneman's  raid. 
This  article  has  been  preserved  in  a  memorial  booklet  of  this  sainted  wo- 
man of  the  sixties.  While  occupying  the  position  of  honored  teacher 
in  Col.  Logan  Carson's  house  near  Marion,  McDowell  county,  Miss  Ran- 
kin felt  the  full  terror  of  Stoneman's  raid  through  western  North  Caro- 
lina, when  (with  two  defenseless  women  and  children)  they  stood  their 
ground  courageously  while  the  ruffians  pointed  pistols  at  their  heads, 
making  terrible  threats  of  what  they  would  do  if  they  did  not  disclose 
the  hiding  place  of  hidden  treasures.  One  of  the  gang  set  fire  to  the 
house  to  frighten  the  ladies,  but  extinguished  it  when  they  saw  the 
bravery  they  exhibited.  When  night  came  on  with  all  the  terrors  of 
darkness,  these  intrepid  women  locked  themselves  into  their  rooms.  In 
the  middle  of  the  night  rough  voices  demanded  with  kicks  and  oaths 
that  the  door  be  opened.  On  forcing  it  open  one  insolently  demanded 
a  breast  pin  which  Miss  Rankin  wore,  saying  that  if  she  did  not  give 
it  up  that  they  would  take  it  from  her.  Refusing,  Miss  Rankin  picked 
up  a  large  iron  shovel  from  the  fireplace  saying,  "You  dare  not  touch 
me."  "Dare  not,"  he  said,  "I  fear  not  God  or  man."  "I  fear  God," 
she  said,  "and  you  cannot  harm  me."     To  the  utter  astonishment  and 


74  Worth  Carolina  Women 

relief  of  this  courageous  woman  the  ruffian  retreated,  leaving  her  weak 
kneed  and  trembling,  but  thankful  to  God  for  her  deliverance.  Even 
these  ruthless  men  could  not  fail  to  admire  the  splendid  spirit  of  Miss 
Emma  Rankin,  who  was  an  example  of  the  faith,  courage  and  self 're' 
liance  of  a  good  woman  in  the  midst  of  danger.  Her  name  is  a  loving 
household  word  in  many  homes,  whose  children  she  has  brought  nearer 
to  God  by  her  teachings. 

In  her  "Last  Ninety  Days  of  the  War"  Mrs.  Cornelia  Spencer,  gives 
incidents  of  courage,  of  the  women  of  Western  North  Carolina. 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Scott,  whose  home  was  near  Lenoir,  was  alone  at  her 
residence  at  the  time  Stoneman's  Federal  troops  were  moving  from  Cald- 
well to  Burke  county.  A  Federal  soldier  heavily  armed  rode  up  to  the 
house  and  demanded  food.  While  he  was  enjoying  his  meal,  Mrs.  Scott 
seized  his  carbine  and  threatened  to  shoot  if  he  made  an  outcry,  made 
him  a  prisoner  and  turned  him  over  to  the  house  guard.  •  Mrs.  Scott 
was  the  mother  of  Mrs.  W.  W.  Scott,  Jr.,  formerly  editor  of  the  Lenoir 
''tTopic.,''  Such  fearlessness  was  found  in  many  of  our  Confederate 
women  who  were  made  of  fortitude  beyond  belief. 

Mrs.  Vaughn,  of  Lenoir,  drew  a  pistol  to  resist  the  marauders  but 
was  overpowered. 

Mrs.  Harper,  another  Lenoir  lady,  was  ill  in  bed  and  a  brutal  soldier 
placed  a  shovel  full  of  red  hot  coals  by  her  side  to  make  her  disclose  her 
hidden  valuables. 

Mrs.  Boone  Clark,  of  Lenoir,  was  seised  by  the  throat  and  almost 
killed  (with  her  little  girl)  the  ruffians  repeatedly  calling  her  a  liar  and 
other  degrading  names. 

The  women  of  Salisbury  and  Rowan  county  did  much  to  relieve  the 
suffering  of  the  Confederate  soldiers,  there  being  three  hospittals  in  Salis- 
bury  where  they  worked  untiringly.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wrenn  and  her 
daughter,  Miss  Betty,  had  charge  of  the  largest  of  these  hospitals,  even 
selling  their  jewelry,  silver,  and  other  clothing  to  buy  food  for  the  pa- 
tients. 

Mrs.  Montgomery  had  charge  of  the  Wayside  Hospital  and  Mrs. 
Jessie  McCallum  of  the  hospital  at  the  old  garrison.  Besides  there  were 
many  enthusiastic  women  workers  among  the  sick  and  wounded. 

The  "Soldiers  Relief  Association'1  of  Rowan  county  was  organised 
early  in  the  war  with  Mrs.  D.  A.  Davis  and  Miss  Camelia  Brown  as 


of  the  Confederacy  7$ 

president  and  vice-president,  and  rendered  valuable  aid  throughout  the 
terrible  four  years. 

Mrs.  Sloan  Johnston,  a  loyal  Confederate,  relieved  the  suffering,  not 
only  of  our  Confederate  soldiers  but  also  the  Federals  imprisoned  at 
Salisbury,  and  by  her  pleading  secured  the  release  of  many  prominent 
Salisbury  men  who  were  thrown  into  prison  by  Stoneman's  raiders. 

General  Stoneman  destroyed  not  only  the  arsenal  and  foundry  at 
Salisbury,  but  the  public  stores  (collected  from  Richmond,  Columbia, 
Charlotte,  Danville)  the  length  of  four  squares  in  flames.  The  women 
and  children  for  months  half  starved  and  half  clothed,  saw  quantities 
of  provisions  burning  in  their  streets  like  so  much  rubbish.  All  the 
precious  medicines,  valued  at  $100,000.00  in  gold  was  destroyed,  leav- 
ing women  and  children  helpless  in  sickness. 

Mrs.  Margaret  E.  Ramsay  showed  the  spirit  of  these  other  corageous 
women  when  a  Confederate  soldier,  as  he  was  being  fired  on  by  Federals, 
fell  on  her  piasza.  Though  the  balls  fell  thick  about  her,  and,  alone  with 
her  little  children,  she  went  out  to  him  and  managed  to  get  him  inside 
her  house,  where  she  nursed  and  stimulated  him  through  the  day  until 
the  physician  could  arrive,  and  assisted  in  a  surgical  operation. 

The  home  of  Mrs.  Frank  Shobert  was  invaded  and  the  brutal  soldiers 
dashed  into  the  privacy  of  her  bed-room,  demanding  her  valuables.  This 
gentle,  loving  woman,  lay  in  bed  with  her  infant  beside  her,  a  few  days 
old.  After  looting  the  house,  as  the  soldiers  departed  one  of  them  was 
shot  by  a  Confederate  on  the  piazxa  of  Mrs.  Shobert's  home. 

A  mile  out  from  Salisbury  a  train  was  fired  on  without  any  demand 
for  surrender,  and  among  the  ladies  on  board  were  the  widow  and 
daughter  of  General  Leonidas  Polk.  The  cars  being  set  on  fire,  the 
ladies  were  forced  to  see  their  luggage  burned  in  which  were  cherished 
relics  of  Gen.  Polk. 

The  women  of  High  Point  and  Statesville,  half  starved  too,  saw  quan- 
tities of  provisions  destroyed  when  the  Yankees  fired  the  Confederate 
government  stores  there.  It  was  said  the  Iredell  county  women  were 
almost  all  in  mourning,  as  no  county  suffered  more  in  the  loss  of  her 
best  and  bravest  sons  in  the  Confederate  army.  The  Yankees  deprived 
the  women  along  their  western  route  of  the  comfort  of  their  decrepit 
old  men  and  very  young  boys  by  marching  them  off  as  prisoners.  The 
women  of  Lenoir  were  vehemently  cursed  for  giving  food  to  these  starved 


76  T^orth  Carolina  Womert 

and  exhausted  old  men,  when  they  halted  over  night  in  this  "rebellious 
little  hole"  as  the  Yankees  called  Lenoir. 

In  Statesville,  it  is  recorded  that  the  room  of  a  woman  in  childbirth 
was  even  invaded,  the  brutality  not  stopping  even  on  the  threshold  of 
life. 

The  fearless  Mrs.  James  Camcill,  of  Wataugua  county,  who  after  re- 
peated  insults,  was  made  a  prisoner  in  h~r  own  home,  by  Kirk. 

Mrs.  Paxton,  near  Morganton,  was  locked  in  her  room  and  tortured 
for  not  disclosing  her  valuables. 


of  the  Confederacy  77 


WIT  AND  REPARTEE 

''Woman  s  wit  is  greater  than  mans  wisdom. 
"Wit  is  precious  as  the  vehicle  of  sense." 


Many  clever  sayings  have  been  handed  down  from  these  women  of 
the  Sixties,  full  of  humor  and  wit,  that  show  their  spirit  and  brilliancy. 
We  know  of  a  young  "tar  heel"  girl,  a  brilliant  talker,  while  her  home 
was  being  pillaged  by  Sherman's  "bummers"  made  a  speech  narrating 
the  cause  of  the  war,  its  beginning  in  the  days  of  nullification  and  se' 
cession,  quoting  John  C.  Calhoun's  speech  in  Congress  down  on  through 
until  Sherman's  men  reached  her  own  home.  The  soldiers  closed  about 
her  listening,  their  hands  unconsciously  dropping  the  articles  they  had 
stolen.  As  she  ceased  they  said  to  her,  "We  never  knew  the  South  had 
so  much  to  fight  for,  if  we  had  we  would  never  draw  gun  or  sword." 

The  courage  displayed  even  by  the  young  girls  in  the  Confederacy 
was  wonderful, and  often  their  bright  answers,  even  in  the  face  of  per' 
sonal  danger,  showed  a  spirit  that  couldn't  be  put  down,  showing  that 
woman's  wit  is  greater  than  man's  wisdom. 

While  the  Yankees  were  burning  the  home  of  Rev.  Colin  Shaw,  in 
Bladen  county,  (he  being  away  at  the  front  and  the  only  inmates  being 
three  defenseless  women)  Miss  Mollie  Shaw,  his  lovely  eighteen  year 
old  daughter,  sat  at  her  piano  playing  her  beloved  "Dixie,"  until  the 
flames  almost  enveloped  her. 

When  Federal  officers  had  their  headquarters  in  the  grove  of 
"Sharon,"  the  home  of  Dr.  Jonathan  North,  (then  State  Treasurer) 
they  asked  his  charming  young  daughter,  Miss  Mary,  to  play  while  they 
sang  the  Northern  song,  "Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp,  the  Boys  are 
Marching,"  whereupon  she  replied  that  she  would  do  so,  but  she  would 
transpose  the  verses  into  those  with  southern  words. 


78  Worth  Carolina  Women 

On  another  occasion  when  the  Yankees  were  occupying  the  refugee 
country  home  of  Miss  Nellie  Worth,  of  Wilmington,  she  was  compelled 
by  them  to  play  the  piano.  She  vowed  to  herself  she  would  play  noth- 
ing but  Southern  songs,  so  surrounded  by  her  "deadly  enemies"  (to 
quote  her)  "I  cooly  sang  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  and  Dixie  with  all  my 
might,  breathing  intense  fire  and  hate  in  my  soul  in  thoSe  two  songs.11 

Mrs.  Croaker  was  a  Kinston  character  noted  for  her  repartee.  A 
Yankee  chaplain  told  her  that  God  had  sent  freedom  as  a  gift  to  the 
slaves. 

"That  might  be  so,11  she  replied,  "but  if  it  is,  the  devil  came  to  bring 
the  gift.11 

He  quoted  Sherman's  famous  "War  is  Hell.11  She  said,  Sherman 
ought  to  know  his  native  customs.  I  suppose  he  knows  all  there  is  to 
know  about  hell.     It's  his  home  talk.11 

Mrs.  Polly  Chadwick  of  New  Bern,  one  day  saw  a  Federal  soldier 
drummed  out  of  his  regiment  with  a  board  strapped  on  his  back  and 
the  word  "theif11  on  it.  She  called  out,  "What  has  the  poor  fellow 
done?11  "Been  stealing.11  "Stealing,1''  said  Mrs.  Polly,  "why,  if  you 
drummed  out  all  who  stole,  there  would  not  be  pine  trees  enough  in 
North  Carolina  to  furnish  planks  for  their  backs." 

An  old  lady  of  Fayetteville  was  seated  at  a  dinner  party  with  the 
Federal  officers  who  were  occupying  her  home.  "General,"  she  said, 
to  quote  her  own  words,  "Aint  you  going  to  ask  a  blessing?"  "Well, 
Grandma,"  he  replied,  "I  don't  know  how,  won't  you  do  it  for  me?  So 
I  asked  a  blessing  and  prayed  a  short  prayer.  I  asked  the  Lord  to  turn 
their  hearts  away  from  their  wickedness  and  make  them  go  back  to  their 
hemes  and  stop  fighting  us,  and  everything.  I  was  afraid  to  tell  them 
I  told  the  Lord  and  they  couldn't  say  a  word. 

Miss  Sarah  Ann  Tillinghast  of  Fayetteville,  showed  her  puritan  an- 
cestry  when  she  stood  on  her  door-steps,  while  her  house  was  being 
rannsacked,  and  with  true  Puritan  fervor,  read  for  the  benefit  of  her 
unwelcome  Yankee  visitors,  the  108th  Psalm,  wherein  the  Psalmist  com- 
mends the  thought  that  the  days  of  the  unmerciful  "be  few"1  and  that 
their  names  be  "blotted  out." 

These  stories  are  told  by  the  "old  inhabitants"  of  Fayetteville: 

General  Sherman  came  to  Fayetteville  by  the  Camden  road,  and  on 
his  way  stopped  at  the  old  Nelson  house  on  that  road,  in  the  Rockfish  sec- 


of  the  Confederacy  79 

fish  section  of  what  was  then  Cumberland  county,  now  Hoke  county. 
Here  took  place  a  very  pretty  little  dialogue  between  the  famous  com- 
mander and  Mrs.  Nelson,  the  proud  and  defiant  mistress  of  the  house. 
The  day  was  March  10th;  and  in'  greeting  the  invader  Mrs.  Nelson  in- 
formed that  the  10th  of  March  was  a  momentuous  day  in  her  life. 

First  was  the  visit  of  General  LaFayette  in  1824,  when  he  stopped 
at  her  house  and  kissed  her  hand.  On  that  day  in  1845  three  persons 
lay  dead  in  her  house,  one  being  a  brother  slain  by  his  brother's  hand. 
"And  now,  on  March  10th,  1865,"  she  added,  "you  come  with  your 
robbers,  to  rob  us."  "Madam,"  replied  General  Sherman,  "I  assure 
you  that  we  will  not  rob  you  or  harm  you  in  any  way,  and,  further,  I, 
too,  shall  kiss  your  hand."  And  he  did.  And  Mrs.  Nelson  was  not 
robbed. 

Another  maiden  lady  of  Cumberland  county,  Miss  Margaret  Shaw, 
one  of  the  "salt  of  the  earth"  showed  her  spirit  when  after  occupying 
her  home  for  the  night,  the  Yankee  officer  asked  if  he  could  bury  his 
men  in  her  field,  she  replied,  "with  the  greatest  pleasure."  On  being 
asked  by  her  invited  guests,  the  Yankee  soldiers,  on  how  she  felt  that 
morning,  she  replied,  "I  feel  like  David  did  when  the  hosts  of  hell  were 
encamped  round  about  him." 

Not  far  from  Fayetteville  there  lived  an  elderly  maiden  lady,  who 
when  she  heard  that  Sherman's  "bummers"  were  coming,  hid  her  jewelry 
and  silver.  When  the  bummers  arrived  they  commanded  her  to  tell 
them  where  she  had  hidden  her  treahures.  When  she  refused  they 
caught  her  and  choked  her  until  they  thought  she  would  yield.  When 
she  was  released  and  had  caught  her  breath,  she  asked,  "Why,  do  you 
think,  did  I  hide  my  things  from  you?" 

"To  keep  us  from  getting  them,  of  course,"  was  the  reply. 

"Then,  don't  you  think  I'd  be  a  fool  to  tell  you  where  I  hid  them? 
Til  never  tell  you  if  you  choke  me  to  death." 

They  left  her,  but  the  purple  marks  of  their  clutches  were  on  her 
throat  for  several  days  afterwards. 

In  the  McNeill  family  there  were  several  daughters  ranging  from  16 
to  24  years  of  age.  When  Sherman's  army  arrived  a  neighbor  came  to 
Mr.  McNeill  and  asked  him  to  bring  the  young  ladies  to  his  home  as 
several  officers  were  quartered  there  and  that  he  had  procured  a  guard 
from  them  and  they  would  be  comparatively  safe.     The  invitation  was 


80  •  Worth  Carolina  Women 

gladly  accepted.  One  afterinoon  while  officers,  young  ladies  of  the  fam' 
ily  and  visitors  were  all  sitting  together  on  the  piawa,  a  negro  near  who 
belonged  to  Mr.  McNeill,  came  to  the  steps  and  asked  one  of  the  ladies 
to  show  him  the  officer  who  had  charge  of  the  grist  mill  on  the  premises. 
Then  very  humbly,  with  hat  in  hand,  the  negro  said  to  the  officer, 
"Your  soldiers  have  taken  everything  we  had  to1*  eat,  and  my  mistress 
sent  me  to  ask  you  for  some  corn  meal  to  make  bread  for  the  children. 
The  officer  in  a  very  lordly  way  announced,  "Well,  suppose  I  don't 
give  it  to  you,  what  would  you  do?" 

"■We'll  have  to  trust  in  Providence,  sir,"  said  the  negro. 

"Didn't  you  know  that  Providence  died  some  time  ago?"  said  the  of' 
ficer. 

'Yes'sah,  I  knows  he  did,  but  he  riz  agin,"  was  the  humble  answer. 

There  was  some  clapping  from  the  "rebel"  part  of  the  audience  but 
the  negro  got  his  meal. 


of  the  Confederacy  8  i 


LITERARY  WOMEN  OF  THE  SIXTIES 


'Sound  judgment  the  ground  of  writing  well. 


"A  perfect  woman  nobly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  counsel  and  command." 


It  has  been  said  of  Mrs.  Cornelia  Phillips  Spencer  that  she  was  like 
some  jewel,  "full  of  fire." 

The  work  of  this  brilliant  woman  stands  out  differently  from  that  of 
any  other  of  North  Carolina's  women  of  the  Sixties. 

Her  "Last  Ninety  Days  of  the  War,"  written  in  '66,  (at  the  request 
of  Governor  Vance)  is  invaluable  as  a  vivid  and  true  picture  of  those 
last  terrible  days  and  the  beginning  of  the  reconstruction  period  in  this 
State.  This  history,  a  classic,  depicts  North  Carolina's  part  in  the  strug- 
gle and  is  one  of  the  greatest  things  accomplished  by  any  of  our  women 
of  that  day,  being  written  by  one  who  saw  and  endured  an  active  part 
in  this  great  drama.  Her  children's  history  of  North  Carolina  is  al- 
so a  true  story  of  the  State. 

Mrs.  Hope  Summerell  Chamberlain  in  her  recent  book  "Old  Days  in 
Chapel  Hill,"  has  made  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  literary  history 
of  this  period  of  our  State,  by  compiling  the  journals  and  letters  of 
Mrs.  Spencer.  She  has  recalled  to  the  present  generation  the  splendid 
services  of  this  woman  of  the  Sixties,  "who  was  the  equal  in  intellect  and 
worth  of  any  other  woman  in  America."  Mrs.  Chamberlain  says  that 
the  idea  in  writing  this  book  was  to  show  Northern  readers  that  Sher- 
man's campaign  methods  and  those  of  others  were  unnecessarily  severe 
and  harsh,  and  to  give  as  much  well  authenticated  personal  experience 
as  possible  from  all  over  the  State.  Mrs.  Spencer  has  left  to  the  State 
many  letters  and  newspaper  articles  which  are  of  great  literary  and  his- 
torical value. 

Her  services  to  her  State  during  these  dark  days  were  direct  and  per- 


82  "North  Carolina  'Women 

sonal,  having  been  friend  and  counsellor  of  Governor  Vance  (redeemer 
of  the  State  from  reconstruction)  and  other  of  the  State's  leaders,  who 
sought  her  advice  frequently.  Being  a  resident  of  Chapel  Hill,  many 
of  the  brilliant  men  who  attended  the  University  during  and  following 
the  war,  were  influenced  by  her  remarkable  personality  and  through 
them  she  contributed  greatly  toward  shaping  the  destinies  of  North 
Carolina.  Her  great  work  was  denouncing  the  outrages  of  reconstruc 
tion  and  calling  aloud,  with  her  pen,  to  the  people  to  be  steadfast,  brave 
and  true.  To  her  was  due  largely,  the  overthrow  of  the  carpet  bagger 
and  his  exodus  from  the  State. 

She  wrote  and  spoke  and  prayed  unceasingly  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
foul  gang  that  were  polutting  her  beloved  University  hall  in  these  re- 
construction days.  The  University,  which  had  remained  open  through 
all  the  horrors  of  the  war,  was  closed  to  students  and  the  dormitories  were 
turned  into  stables  for  horses  of  cut  throat  Federal  soldiers  sent  to  over- 
come  the  Southern  people  in  their  resistance  to  carpet  bag  government. 
Cornelia  Spencer  thundered  through  the  press  of  the  State,  defiance  to 
oppressive  authority  and  to  the  sons  of  the  University  everywhere  she 
uttered  rallying  cries  for  the  revival  of  this  seat  of  learning. 

Her  labors  and  prayers  were  answered  and  she  saw  the  University 
restored  to  it's  own,  a  day  of  triumph  for  her  to  whom  was  most  due 
(except  Dr.  Kemp  Battle)  it's  re-opening. 

Throughout  the  four  dreary  years  of  the  war  she  encouraged  and 
cheered  the  students  who  remained  at  Chapel  Hill,  being  their  comrade 
and  counselor,  besides  working  for  the  soldiers  who  were  away  fighting 
and  caring  for  many  needy  families. 

The  downfall  of  her  State  brought  forward  Mrs.  Spencer's  remarkable 
ability,  knowledge  of  men  and  events  in  North  Carolina  in  its  critical 
period  of  war  and  reconstruction  was  greater  than  that  of  any  man  or 
woman  of  that  day.  Her  name  should  be  placed  high  in  the  history  of 
North  Carolina's  women  of  the  Sixties. 

In  her  book,  "The  Last  Ninety  Days  of  the  War,"  Mrs.  Spencer  pays 
this  tribute  to  her  fellow  women  of  the  Confederacy. 

'When  I  forget  you,  O  ye  daughters  of  my  country,  your  labors  of 
love,  your  charity,  faith,  and  patience,  all  through  the  dark  and  bloody 
day;  lighting  up  the  gloom  of  war  with  tender  graces  of  women's  devo- 
tion and  self-denial,  and  now  in  your  energy  and  cheerful  submission 


of  the  Confederacy  83 

in  toil  and  poverty  and  humiliation;  when  I  cease  to  do  homage  to  your 
virtues  and  your  excellencies,  may  "my  right  hand  forget  its  coming, 
and  my  voice  be  in  silent  dust." 


"Sing  me  the  song  that  to  you  were  so  dear,  long,  long  ago." 


Mrs.  Frances  Fisher  Tiernan,  of  Salisbury,  known  to  the  literary 
world  as  "Christian  Reid,"  has  given  a  name  to  add  to  the  State's  wo- 
men of  the  Sixties  of  which  we  are  justly  proud.  Her  father  was  Col- 
onel Charles  F.  Fisher,  who  as  commander  of  the  6th  N.  C.  regi- 
ment, gave  his  life  at  the  first  battle  of  Mannasses.  Out  of  her  sorrow 
in  his  death  (tho  in  her  teens)  grew  her  love  for  the  Confederacy,  and 
the  history  of  the  South  was  a  passion  with  her..  She  was  the  first 
historian  of  the  N.  C.  Division  U.  D.  C,  and  until  her  death,  honorary 
President.  She  gave  of  her  unquenchable  spirit  to  keep  history  straight 
in  the  Southern  cause,  and  placed  the  gifts  of  her  mind,  heart  and  pen 
at  the  service  of  the  South,  writing  that  beautiful  and  stirring  war  drama, 
"Under  the  Southern  Cross," 

This  was  later  played  before  scores  of  Southern  audiences,  resulting 
in  the  creation  of  many  enduring  monuments  in  bronze  and  stone  to  the 
memory  of  that  perfect  army  of  our  Confederacy. 

As  a  novelist  we  halo  her  name  in  especial  administration  for  the  true 
and  perfect  pictures  she  drew  of  our  Confederacy,  and  we  Daughters 
of  today  owe  a  deep  debt  to  her  for  her  contribution  to  the  Southern 
Cause. 

The  soldiers  of  her  father's  regiment  adored  her  and  at  the  sight  of 
her  and  the  mention  of  her  name  they  would  almost  stampede  the  house. 

In  1874  with  one  stroke  of  her  pen,  "Christian  R.eid"  gave  North 
Carolina  the  name  by  which  it  was  to  become  famous  around  the  world 
— The  Land  of  Sky — by  a  most  delightful  book  describing  most  vividly 
the  grandeur  of  our  mountains.  The  greatest  literary  honor  ever  paid 
"Christian  Reid"  was  the  presentation  to  her  of  a  gold  medal  by  a  dis- 
tinguished French  Literary  Society  after  her  story,  "The  Lady  Dela 
Crucis"  had  been  translated  into  French.  She  was  also  made  a  member 
of  the  exclusive  society  "The  Order  of  the  Golden  Rose  of  France."     It 


84  'Nprih  Carolina.  Women 

has  been  said  of  her  that  "She  was  like  unto  a  harp  of  a  thousand  strings 
vibrating  with  harmony,  music  falling  from  every  string,  the  cadence 
lingering  to  charm  the  ear,  dying  never  but  living  on  and  on  down  the 
ages." 

There  is  nothing  more  powerfully  dramatic  and  compelling  than  her 
wonderful  patriotic  poem  "Gloria  Victis,"  a  hymn  of N triumphant  victory 
in  honor  of  the  Confederate  soldiers'  bravery.  Her  poem  "Regret,"  a 
refrain  of  the  heart  is  considered  by  many  one  of  the  finest  peoms  by 
any  North  Carolinian.  Her  "Valerie  Aylmer,"  written  in  the  Sixties, 
refrain  of  the  heart,  is  considered  by  many  one  of  the  finest  poems  by 
while  she  was  still  a  young  woman,  stands  today  a  work  of  art  in  the 
literary  world. 

When  the  world  war  came  no  one  was  more  devoted  to  the  allied 
cause  than  she.  Though  ill  and  scarcely  able  to  leave  her  room,  she  made 
some  of  the  most  inspiring  speeches  given  in  Salisbury,  being  a  gifted 
public  speaker. 


Mrs.  Mary  Bayard  Clarke,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Polk  Devereux,  of 
Raleigh,  was  a  literary  genius  of  the  Sixties,  of  whom  North  Carolina 
is  very  proud.  This  typical  Confederate  woman,  whom  both  Raleigh 
and  New  Bern  claimed,  used  her  pen  with  poetry  and  prose  in  telling 
the  story  of  the  South,  her  work  as  a  poet  being  especially  valuable.  The 
wife  of  a  Confederate  soldier,  Col.  William  J.  Clarke,,  her  heart  was 
with  the  South  and  the  Old  North  State  always,  and  in  verse  she  poured 
forth  the  sufferings  and  glory  of  the  Confederacy.  It  has  been  said 
that  one  of  her  poems  "Must  I  Forget,"  is  not  excelled  by  Byron,  and 
that  she  was  akin  to  Wordsworth  in  style.  Her  poem  "General  Lee 
At  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness"  has  a  note  of  the  sublime,  while  the 
"Rebel  Sock"  contains  a  humorous  touch.  Her  "Social  Reminiscences 
of  Noted  North  Carolinians"  is  a  collection  of  interest  and  her  "CarO' 
lina  Carols"  contain  fine  contributions  of  her  own  as  well  as  of  others 
(written  in  1854.)  Mrs.  Clarke  also  contributed  to  the  "Land  We 
Love,"  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  her  writings  being  her  character 
sketch  from  the  life  of  "Aunt  Abby,  the  Irrepressible." 

Mrs.  Clark's  pen  name  in  poetry  was  "Tenelia,"  and  in  prose  "Stuart 
Leigh." 


of  the  Confederacy  85 

During  the  reconstruction  period  she  supported  many  who  were  in 
need,  by  her  writings. 


Miss  Sarah  Ann  Tillinghast,  of  Fayetteville,  in  65,  gave  to  the  South 
a  beautiful  poem  "Answer  to  the  Conqueror  Banner,"  a  fit  mate  to 
Father  Ryan's  famous  poem  telling  us  to  "Love  It,  Weep  It,  For  Its 
Past." 

Her  poem  "Carolina's  Dead,"  was  written  as  a  memorial  day  ode  to 
our  fallen  heroes,  and  is  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  men  in  Gray. 

Miss  Tillinghast  wrote  many  interesting  sketches  of  war  days  in  her 
community  and  was  noted  for  her  witty  answers  to  the  Yankees  when 
they  were  occupying  Fawetteville. 


Mrs.  Fannie  Downing  has  left  some  beautiful  verses  which  were  pub' 
lished  in  the  "Land  We  Love,"  a  magazine  edited  by  General  D.  H. 
Hill,  just  after  the  war.  Her  "Memorial  Flowers"  is  a  lengthy  and 
charming  poem  that  breathes  the  love  every  southern  woman  feels  for 
memorial  day.  Her  "Reconstruction"  is  also  a  poem  of  real  literary 
merit  as  well  as  numbers  of  others  that  have  been  loved  and  admired. 
Mrs  Downing  though  a  native  of  Virginia,  came  to  this  State  as  a  young 
woman,  to  make  her  home  in  Mecklenburg  county. 


Mrs.  A.  L.  Pendelton,  of  Warrenton,  has  contributed  greatly  to  the 
literary  and  historical  work  of  this  State,  since  a  girl  in  the  Sixties.  This 
lady  of  eighty-nine  is  a  living  page  from  the  Old  South,and  her  literary 
style  is  beautiful  and  fine.  Besides  many  poems  of  real  merit  her  book- 
let entitled  "Last  Words  of  Confederate  Heroes,"  is  filled  with  tributes 
to  these  men  who  fought  with  Lee. 

The  daughter  of  Mrs.  Pendelton,  Mrs.  Kathrine  Arrington,  is  to  place 
the  name  of  this  devoted  real  "Daughter  of  the  Confederacy"  on  a  bronze 
tablet  in  the  Memorial  Hall  at  Stone  oMuntain,  a  most  deserved  tribute 
to  the  one  who  has  for  years  given  of  her  best  to  her  Southland;  and  since 
its  organization  an  ardent  U.  D.  C. 


86  tyorth  Carolina  Women 

As  a  young  woman  in  the  Confederacy,  Mrs.  Pendelton  endured 
hardships  and  self-sacrifices,  and  her  recollections  of  the  Sixties  are  told 
in  a  most  interesting  way.  In  describing  a  journey  from  Greenville  to 
Warrenton,  during  the  war,  Mrs.  Pendelton  says  she  and  her  sister  had 
to  sit  on  boxes  in  a  freight  car  surrounded  by  sides  of  bacon.  Her 
brother  remarked,  as  he  lifted  her  in  the  car,  "You  "have  been  contem' 
plating  a  trip  to  Europe,  and  you  ought  to  be  happy  now  for  you  are  in 
the  middle  of  Greece." 

Mrs.  Pendelton  gives  these  lines  as  a  preface  to  her  "Last  Words  of 
Confederate  Heroes:" 

"The  men  who  went  to  the  tented  field, 
And  the  women  who  bade  them  never  to  yield 
To  the  invading  foe,  are  passing  away — 
Ahl  few  of  our  heroes  are  living  today; 
Few  women  who  waited,  and  wept  and  wrought 
Are  left  now  to  tell  how  bravely  they  fought. 
We  exulted  o'er  victories,  wept  at  defeat, 
And  "lest  we  forget,"  I  here  will  repeat 
The  last  words  of  heroes  on  whom  we  relied, 
For  nobly  they  lived  and  nobly  they  died." 


The  first  woman  to  edit  a  newspaper  in  North  Carolina  was  Rachael 
Holton,  who  became  the  editor  of  the  "North  Carolina  Whig,"  formerly 
the  Charlotte  Journal,  on  the  death  of  her  husband,  E.  J.  Holton,  soon 
after  the  war  began.  This  plucky  woman  felt  that  the  paper  should  be 
continued  at  this  critical  period  when  news  travelled  so  slowly,  so  she 
put  her  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  capably  carried  it  on  'til  '63,  when  it 
was  discontinued  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  paper. 

It  is  said  that  another  reason  for  its  ceasing  publication  was  the  fact 
that  the  chimney  to  the  office  fell  down  and  there  were  no  men  available 
to  put  it  back. 

Nor  did  the  women  forget  that  their  children  should  be  educated 
though  their  fathers  and  brothers  were  at  the  front.  Teachers  were 
scarce  but  many  of  our  women  filled  the  places  vacated  by  the  soldiers. 


of  the  Confederacy  87 

The  boarding  schools  of  St.  Mary's,  Raleigh,  Greensboro,  and  Salem 
were  kept  open,  as  was  the  Charlotte  Female  Institute. 

From  the  second  volume  of  Ashe's  valuable  history  of  North  Carolina 
we  learn  that  as  the  supply  of  school  books  diminished,  that  the  efficient 
Mrs.  Moore,  of  Raleigh,  a  daughter  of  the  publisher,  Mr.  Branson,  pre' 
pared  a  series  of  primers,  readers  and  other  books  for  use  in  the  schools, 
Printing  paper  was  so  scare  that  it  is  said  that  some  books  were  printed 
on  wall  paper. 

Capt.  Ashe  gives  this  extract  from  the  report  of  1863  of  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  Rev.  Calvin  H.  Wiley.  This 
should  be  remembered  by  our  citizens  of  today. 

"The  future  historian  will  add,  as  our  crowning  glory,  that  in  the 
darkest  hour  of  the  Confederacy,  when  every  nerve  and  muscle  of  the 
country  were'  wrought  to  the  highest  tension  in  a  terrible  and  unparalleled 
struggle  for  existence  and  independence,  North  Carolina  still  supported 
a  vigorous  and  beneficient  system  of  free  and  public  schools,  and  that 
they  were  attended  by  50,000  of  the  children  of  her  patriotic  citizens.1'' 


88  J^orth  Carolina  Womeri 


CHRISTMAS  DURING  THE  CONFEDERACY 


"It's  getting  dose  to  Chris'mus, 
Wid  the  chillun  feeliri  spry." 


The  ingenuity  shown  by  our  women  in  playing  the  part  of  Santa  Claus 
shows  that  though  their  hearts  were  breaking  over  their  men  at  the  front, 
still  they  gave  happiness  to  their  children  by  devising  many  attractive 
gifts,  "making  something  out  of  nothing.'" 

In  our  call  for  reminiscences  of  "Christmas  in  the  Confederacy,"  the 
delightful  little  glimpses  of  those  days  that  have  come  from  many  of 
our  survivors  of  that  period,  throughout  the  State,  deserve  a  separate 
chapter  in  our  "Women  of  the  Sixties."  In  her  story  of  Christmas  in 
the  Confederacy,  Mrs.  F.  C.  Roberts  of  New  Bern  has  left  us  this  charm' 
ing  peep  into  her  home  in  the  Christmas  of  '64 : 

"Dark  clouds  were  gathered  around  us,  but  the  star  of  hope  shone 
bright  above  us,  and  our  faith  was  steadfast  and  unwavering.  The 
year  had  been  a  hard  one.  Our  resources  were  at  the  lowest  ebb  when 
Christmas  confronted  us.  Stockings  must  be  filled,  gifts  must  be  ready, 
children's  faith  in  Santa  Claus  must  be  sustained,  and  how  could  all 
this  be  accomplished?  My  husband  was  home  from  the  army  on  sick 
leave.  It  taxed  our  ingenuity,  but  the  little  ones  must  not  be  disap- 
pointed. He  was  skilled  in  the  use  of  tools  and  made  a  cradle  for  one, 
a  carriage  for  another  and  a  cart  for  the  little  boy,  while  I  ransacked 
trunks  for  odds  and  ends  to  make  and  dress  dolls.  They  were,  of  course, 
"rag  dolls  with  cheeks  painted  with  poke-berries,  eyes  with  indigo  and 
hair  with  sumach  berries. 

"Our  ground-pea  patch  had  yielded  well,  and  we  had  laid  by  late  ap- 
ples from  our  orchard,  we  had  sorghum  for  candy  and  cakes.  I  had 
bartered  a  little  salt  for  a  do^en  eggs.  I  drew  people  and  animals  on 
paper  and  Mammy  Caroline  laid  them  on  her  dough  and  with  a  sharp 
knife  cut  them  out,  thus  making  a  fine  menagerie. 


of  the  Confederacy  8§ 

"On  Christmas  Eve  the  children,  white  and  black,  brought  evergreens 
and  berries  from  the  woods  to  decorate  the  parlor,  making  it  a  bower 
of  fragrance  and  beauty.  I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  tallow 
enough  to  fill  a  set  of  tallow  moulds.  So,  for  my  Christmas  illumination 
I  had  twelve  elegant  "dips,"  an  improvement  on  a  lightwood  torch.  I 
found  twelve  empty  bottles  to  serve  as  candle  sticks.  These  I  hid  among 
the  evergreens.  The  stockings  were  hung  "by  the  chimney  with  care," 
and  Santa  came!  Verily  and  truly  he  had  come,  for  the  children  had 
covered  the  hearthwith  sand,  and  there  on  the  sand  were  traces  of  his 
sleigh  and  the  prints  of  the  reindeer's  feet. 

'It  requires  very  little  to  make  children  happy.  On  Christmas  morn' 
ing  the  the  house  rang  with  their  cries  of  "Merry  Christmas!"  They 
were  wild  with  delight.  No  expensive  toys  could  have  given  more 
pleasure  than  the  simple  ones  we  had  prepared  for  them.  A  big  basket 
was  filled  wth  animal  cakes,  apples  and  ground  peas,  and  their  nurses 
took  them  to  the  Quarters  to  distribute  the  contents  to  the  little  negroes. 
The  older  servants  had  the  same,  with  the  addition  of  cider  for  the  wo- 
men and  something  stronger  for  the  men.  It  was  the  best  we  could  do 
and  they  seemed  content. 

"Our  dinner  was  frugal.  It  consisted  of  rice  and  peas  in  many  forms 
with  a  desert  of  delicious  cake,  wine,  ground-peas  and  apples.  My 
cake  was  made  of  dried  cherries,  dried  whortle-berries,  candied  water- 
melon rind  and  sorghum.  When  we  returned  to  the  parlor  the  candles 
hed  been  lighted.  Here  our  guests  took  leave  of  us,  and  here  ended  one 
Christmas  day  in  the  Confederacy. 

Another  recollection  of  Christmas  in  the  Sixties  is  from  Mrs.  A.  McA. 
Gainey  of  Cumberland  County,  who  recalls  her  childhood  days. 

"My  Christmas  of  1863  was  a  very  happy  one.  Old  Santa  Claus 
gave  me  simple  gifts  but  just  as  jolly  as  those  in  which  my  grandchildren 
of  today  are  receiving. 

"On  this  special  Christmas  morning  what  should  I  find  in  'my  box?" 
A  complete  little  loom  Santa  Claus  had  made  with  his  own  knife,  a 
corn  stalk  bed  with  a  rag  doll  in  it  which  Mrs.  Santa  Claus  had  made 
were  right  there.  My  brother  found  to  his  delight  a  little  wagon  with 
spool  wheels  and  a  small  wooden  box  body.  His  flute  which  furnished 
the  noise  for  the  day  was  made  from  a  river  lowland  reed.  But  its 
tones  were  much  more  agreeable  than  the  racket  boxes  we  now  have. 


90  Hprth  Carolina  Womeri 

"Were  our  stockings  bulged  from  toe  to  top  with  apples,  oranges, 
raisins,  nuts,  and  store  bought  candy?  Oh!  No!  Mrs.  Santa  Claus 
had  been  a  very  diligent,  industrious,  resourceful  lady  and  had  made 
ample  provision  for  the  satisfying  of  our  "sweet  tooth."  She  had  in 
each  of  our  boxes  a  nice  package  of  molasses  and  honey  candy  which 
was  full  of  big,  nice  black  walnut  goodies;  and  ginger  cookies  cut  by  her 
deft  hands  to  strikingly  resemble  animals  we  knew. 

"Oh,  yes!  our  Christmas  was  much  more  simple  and  our  toys  hand' 
made;  but  let  no  one  for  one  minute  think  we  were  not  pleased  with  them 
and  far  happier  than  the  present  day  child  who  is  ever  wanting  more." 


The  story  of  our  "Women  of  the  Sixties"  would  not  be  complete  with' 
out  mentioning  the  old  colored  "mammies."  What  would  o,ur  Confed' 
erate  women  have  done  without  the  fidelity  of  these  dear  old  loyal  souls? 
Wherever  her  duties,  in  the  field,  kitchen,  at  the  tub,  spinning  the  wheel, 
nursing  "de  children"  or  waiting  on  "de  big  house,"  mammy  did  her 
part  fathfully  and  lovingly,  often  being  the  comforter  to  her  mistress 
when  sad  news  came  and  sorrowing  with  the  family  in  their  grief. 

Miss  Georgia  Hicks  has  written  a  beautiful  reminiscence  of  her  old 
colored  "mammy,"  Cynthia  Hill.  When  all  the  other  negroes  of  Col' 
onel  Hill,  of  Faison,  had  gone  or  been  driven  away,  Cynthia  came  to 
the  house  and  told  her  old  "Marster"  she  wanted  to  stay  with  him. 
Colonel  Hill  told  her  that  she  could  and  that  he  would  care  for  her. 
She  remained  with  the  Hill  family  for  over  sixty  years  and  her  pride 
was  great  in  her  "white  folks,"  to  whom  she  was  devoted.  She  was  loved 
by  all  the  children  of  the  village  and  their  greatest  joy  was  to  hear 
Cynthia  tell  tales  of  "before  de  war."  During  the  last  days  of  Mrs. 
Hill's  life  Cynthia  was  her  faithful  bodyguard,  and  when  at  last  her 
spirit  passed  to  the  Beyond,  this  faithful  old  "slave"  was  buried  in  the 
family  plot  of  the  Hills,  and  her  pallbearers  were  the  boys  (now  grown 
to  manhood)  whom  she  had  nursed  in  their  infancy. 


of  the  Confederacy  91 

Women  Urge  Church  Bells  for  Confederate  Cannon 


The  women  of  the  Confederacy  felt  that  their  cause  was  righteous, 
holy,  and  sacred  and  involved  the  highest  duty  and  dearest  sacrifice  of 
devoted  Christians.  So  when  they  urged  that  their  precious  church  bells 
shoud  be  given  to  the  Confederate  Government  for  making  cannon  for 
our  army,  this  was  the  most  significant  illustration  of  their  devotion 
to  the  Southland. 

A  valuable  and  beautiful  bit  of  history  in  which  the  Confederate  wo- 
men of  the  State  had  their  part,  is  that  which  has  been  collected  by  Mrs. 
Henry  Armand  London,  of  Pittsboro,  (an  ex-president  of  the  North 
Carolina  Division  of  the  U.  D.  C).  As  chairman  of  the  U.  D.  C.  com- 
mittee on  "Church  Bells  in  the  Confederacy/''  Mrs.  London  gave  this 
report  at  the  annual  State  convention  in  1920. 

"In  view  of  the  scarcity  of  tin  and  other  metal  suited  to  the  manu- 
facture of  field  artillery  in  the  Confederacy,  and  in  compliance  with  the 
call  of  the  Ordinance  Review  in  Richmond  for  bells  eary  in  1862,  many 
churches  patriotically  gave  their  bells  to  the  Confederate  Government  to 
be  cast  into  cannon. 

"In  Hillsboro  the  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  and  Saint  Matthew  Episco- 
pal Churches  gave  their  bells,  the  bell  of  this  Episcopal  church  was  used 
to  make  the  cannon  for  the  battery  of  the  Hillsboro  soldiers.  After  the 
war  this  was  replaced  by  a  memorial  bell,  given  by  Mrs.  M.  A.  Curtis, 
in  memory  of  her  son  John  Henry  Curtis,  and  his  comrades  from  this 
town.  All  the  churches  in  Washington  gave  their  bells.  The  Roman 
Catholic  and  Presbyterian  churches  were  burned  by  Yankees,  while  the 
Episcopal  church  was  desecrated  and  used  by  the  Yankees  for  barracks. 

"The  bell  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  church  in  Fayetteville  was  offered 
to  the  government  by  the  vestry,  April  1862,  but  was  not  accepted. 
The  bell  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Fayetteville  was  offered  by  the 
session  of  the  church  in  April  1862,  but  was  not  accepted  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  transportation. 

"Edenton  has  the  honor  of  four  cannons  that  were  cast  from  the  bells 
in  that  town  and  they  became  the  Edenton  Bell  Battery,  in  the  Confed- 
eracy. St.  Pauls  Episcopal  Church  bell,  the  Methodist  Church  bell,  and 
the  Academy  bell  were  all  given  and  cast  into  four  cannons,  namely,  the 


£1  North  Carolina  Women 

'S't.  Paul,"  the  "Fanny  Roulhac,"  the  "Columbia,'"  and  the  "Edenton." 
These  four  cannons  formed  the  battery  that  protected  the  sound  from 
Yankee  gunboats. 

"The  churches  of  Halifax  all  gave  their  bells.  Mr.  Thomas  Pollock 
of  that  town  had  given  a  bell  for  the  servants'  chapel  and  they  too  of' 
fered  their  bell,  which  was  sent  with  the  others. 

"The  bells  from  St.  Bartholomew's  church  of  Pittsboro,  and  Calvary 
church  of  Tarboro,  were  also  given. 

Weldon  in  '61  had  only  a  little  Union  Church,  with  no  bell  of  its 
own,  as  it  used  the  Railroad  shed  bell  for  the  call  to  service  but  the  little 
chapel  was  used  all  through  the  war  as  a  hospital  for  our  soldiers. 

"The  Methodist  and  Episcopal  churches  of  Plymouth  also  offered  their 
bells,  also  the  Methodist  church  at  Greensboro. 

In  Wilmington  the  St.  James  Episcopal  Church  was  closed  for  di' 
vine  worship  by  the  Yankees  the  pews  and  pulpit  torn  out  with  pick' 
axes,  upon  the  refusal  of  its  rector  to  pray  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  instead  of  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States. 

"In  Charlotte  all  five  churches  gave  their  bells,  which  were  melted 
into  cannon  for  Brem's  Battery,  a  Charlotte  Artillery  Organization.  Al' 
most  the  entire  battery  was  lost  at  the  battle  of  New  Bern.  Many 
guns,  gun-carriages  and  fittings  were  made  at  the  Charlotte  navy  yard. 

"After  the  war  when  the  Presbyterian  church  bell  of  Charlotte  was 
replaced  by  a  larger  bell,  inscribed  on  this  was  the  history  of  this  first 
bell. 

The  five  churches  of  Raleigh  tendered  their  bells.  On  April  4,  1862, 
the  Baptist  church  offered  its  large  bell  which  weighed  thirteen  hundred 
pounds,  which  made  three  six-pounders,  a  half  a  battery. 

"We  copy  from  the  Raleigh  Register  of  April  '62,  these  verses  from 
a  poem  entitled  "The  Church  Bells  of  the  Confederacy." 

Loosen  the  bolts — lower  me  down; 

Cannon  must  be  made. 
From  hill  and  vale,  and  leagured  town 

A  T^ation's  call  for  aidl 
The  joy  of  a  country's  heart  is  gone, 

The  light  of  a  people  fled; 
To  hearts  and  hearths,  the  foe  presses  on 

O'er  the  forms  of  the  gallant  dead. 


of  the  Confederacy  93 

7^o  more  should  the  tongues  of  the  village  bell 

Give  forth  its  cheerful  strain 
'Till  freedom  and  peace  together  shall  dwell 

In  this  fair  sunny  land  again. 
So  haste  to  the  foundry,  let  me  go, 

"Where  my  brazen  sides  may  yield 
A  weapon  of  death  to  the  insolent  foe 

And  then — away  to  the  fieldl 

Transferred  again  to  my  lonely  perch, 

"When  the  battle's  fought  and  done — 
A  peal  I'll  ring  from  the  village  church 

For  countless  glories  won. 
And  anon — a  song  for  the  brave  who  bled. 

Ere  victory  crowned  the  day. 
And  a  dirge  for  the  names  of  the  honored  Dead, 

"Who  fell  in  the  fearful  fray. 


94  Worth  Carolina  Women 


OTHER  CHARACTERS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The  "First  Lady"  of  North  Carolina  in  the  War 


The  "First  Lady"  in  North  Carolina  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
Confederacy,  was  Mrs.  Zebulon  Vance,  wife  of  our  beloved  War  Govern' 
or.  This  frail  little  woman  helped  to  equip  companies  and  went  through 
these  terrible  days  by  the  side  of  her  courageous  husband  helping  to  in- 
spire  him  with  strength  to  guide  wisely  his  "Ship  of  State."  In  unwaver' 
ing  faith,  high  spirit,  strength,  courage  and  steadfastness  of  principal, 
she  was  an  example  to  all  other  women  of  the  State  who  were  suffering 
and  enduring. 

With  her  four  little  sons,  she  was  forced  to  flee  from  Raleigh,  on  the 
approach  of  Sherman's  army,  and  all  her  trunks  were  broken  open  by 
these  "bummers."  Again  when  ill  in  bed  in  Statesville,  her  furniture 
and  all  belongings  were  taken  by  the  Yankees,  her  children  being  left 
without  even  a  bed,  and  again  when  ill,  her  husband  was  taken  from  her 
very  arms  to  be  imprisoned  in  Washington  City.  On  all  these  terrible 
occasions  this  intrepid  little  woman  showed  an  indominitable  spirit,  for 
which  she  was  honored  throughout  North  Carolina. 


Though  most  modest  and  retiring  in  her  nature,  yet  Mrs.  Anna  Morri- 
son  Jackson,  of  Charlotte,  stands  out  amongst  our  fearless  women,  not 
only  for  herself  but  as  the  wife  of  our  immortal  Stonewall  Jackson.  She 
gave  to  the  Confederacy  her  distinguished  husband,  whom  she  followed 
in  many  a  battle,  almost  being  in  the  fighting  herself.  On  one  occasion, 
when  en  route  to  the  winter  camp  to  join  Gen.  Jackson,  she  had  packed 
full  of  provision  for  the  soldiers,  a  wornout  hair  trunk.  Some  of  our  sol' 
diers  on  the  train  were  ridiculing  the  ancient  article,  whereupon  the 
black  mammy,  who  accompanied  her,  as  nurse  to  little  Julia,  exclaimed. 


of  the  Confederacy  95 

"Yo'  better  not  be  makin  fun  o'  that  ere  trunk,  'cause  hit  belongs  to 
Mrs.  "Stonewall  Jackson."  The  Confederates  at  once  apologized,  with 
bows  to  the  trunk. 

Mrs.  Jackson  showed  the  spirit  of  her  noble  husband  by  helping  to 
keep  green  the  memory  of  the  Confederacy  in  her  memorial  work  and 
later  in  the  U.  D.  C,  being  the  Honorary  President  of  this  Division. 

Excutive  ability  was  displayed  by  so  many  of  our  women  in  those 
critical  days.  This  characteristic  was  shown  to  a  marked  degree  by 
Mrs.  Jonathan  Worth,  of  Asheboro,  who  was  one  of  the  "Inventive 
Women  of  the  War."  Her  husband  had  equipped  an  entire  company 
from  his  county,  at  his  own  expense,  and  Mrs.  Worth  herself  oversaw 
all  the  garments  made  for  these  men. 

Throughout  the  war  she  paid  numbers  of  needy  women  in  that  vicinity 
to  sew  and  knit  for  this  company,  this  not  only  providing  them  with  a 
livelihood,  but  giving  them  happiness  of  working  for  their  own  husbands 
and  fathers.  Whenever  soldiers  would  pass  through  the  town,  Mrs. 
Worth  would  have  her  servants  go  out  and  gather  up  the  discarded  socks 
left  by  the  soldiers.  After  having  them  washed  in  steaming  tubs,  she 
would  employ  soldiers1  wives  to  knit  new  feet  on  these  clean  socks,  ship' 
ping  them  to  the  soldiers  at  the  front.  In  '62  when  Mr.  Worth  became 
State  Treasurer,  under  Governor  Vance,  Mrs.  Worth  shared  the  responsi- 
bility of  caring  for  the  State's  books,  and  later,  when  Governor  of  North 
Carolina,  she  courageously  went  through  the  terrors  of  reconstruction 
days  by  his  side.  By  her  dignified  fact  and  good  sense,  she  saved  the 
day  in  many  instances  when  the  Yankee  hordes  were  terrorizing  Raleigh. 

The  memory  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Ann  Cromwell,  a  sainted  woman  of 
the  Sixties,  hangs  like  a  benediction  to  those  who  remember  her  wonder' 
ful  personality  and  activities  during  the  war.  Margaret  Ann  Cromwell 
showed  her  heroic  ancestry  when  she  sent  her  young  husband,  Elishav 
Cromwell,  to  fight  for  the  Confederacy,  with  a  cheerful  smile,  then 
with  an  aching  heart  she  went  to  work  to  do  her  part  for  the  South  and 
her  soldiers.  She  was  a  helpmeet  in  truth,  assisting  Colonel  Cromwell 
in  organizing  his  regiment. 

Besides  managing  her  large  plantation,  Margaret  Cromwell  was  the 
Mother  of  the  company  of  boys  that  her  husband  carried  to  the  war, 
spinning  and  weaving  clothes,  knitting  and  in  every  way  administering 
to  their  comfort. 


96  7^[orth  Carolina  "Women 

Mrs.  Cromwell  was  known  throughout  her  native  county,  and  adjoin' 
ing  counties,  as  a  woman  of  strong  irreproachable  character,  and  although 
raised  in  affuence,  when  the  dark  days  of  the  war  came,  she  ministered 
to  those  that  were  less  fortunate  than  herself  and  was  a  friend  indeed 
to  the  needy  families  of  her  soldiers.  Mrs.  Cromwell's  self-forgetfulness 
gave  inspiration  to  others,  and  to  all  she  came  in  contact  with  she  was 
a  constant  blessing.  Her  grand-daughter,  Mrs.  Jackson  Daniel  Thrash 
Morrison,  was  one  of  the  beloved  ex-presidents  of  the  North  Carolina 
Division  U.  D.  C. 

Like  Mrs.  Cromwell  in  incessant  work  for  the  Confederacy,  was  Mrs. 
Tempie  Ann  (Battle)  Marriott,  of  the  same  vicinity.  Her  husband,  Dr. 
Marriott,  not  being  physically  able  to  serve  in  the  army,  did  more  than 
his  share  as  physician  and  chief  adviser  to  the  people  of  Nash  and  Edge- 
combe counties.  Mrs.  Marriott  did  everything  possible  to  aid  the  Cause 
by  raising  great  quantities  of  provisions  which  were  given  to  feed  her 
county's  soldiers.  She  kept  many  of  them  clothed  by  her  own  work  of 
spinning,  weaving  and  sewing.  One  of  her  four  soldier  brothers  died 
of  fever,  but  though  heartbroken,  this  woman  of  the  Sixties  worked  all 
the  harder  for  her  beloved  South. 

Her  spirit  of  endeavor  has  been  handed  down  to  her  granddaughter 
and  namesake,  Tempie  Whitehead  Holt,  another  past  president  of  the 
N.  C.  Division  of  the  U.  D.  C. 

Mrs.  Robert  Ransom,  the  wife  of  one  of  North  Caroina's  distinguished 
generals,  was  a  wealthy  woman  who  came  South  with  her  husband  from 
Washington  City.  She  gave  of  her  own  means  to  help  Gen.  Ransom 
equip  the  1st  N.  C.  Calvary  which  he  raised  and  trained  at  Ridgeway. 

All  during  the  war  Mrs.  Ransom  sent  boxes  and  did  work  for  the 
sick  soldiers.  When  married  she  had  dozens  of  suits  of  linen  underwear 
and  many  linen  shirts,  etc.  Many  of  these  she  scrapped  to  make  lint 
for  the  hospitals.  She  lived  with  a  most  hospitable  family  five  miles 
from  Petersburg,  and  a  large  four  room  office  was  always  filled  with  sick 
soldiers  whom  she  and  the  mistress  of  the  home  nursed.  She  would  go 
to  the  other  hospitals  and  write  letters  home  for  the  men,  and  alas,  too 
often  writing  to  tell  of  their  death.  In  the  possession  of  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  F.  M.  Williams,  is  a  letter  from  President  Davis,  thanking  her  for 
a  box  of  provisions  sent  him,  and  saying  they  were  almost  on  the  verge 
of  starvation  when  it  came.     She  shipped  boxes  of  honey  from  Major 


of  the  Confederacy  97 

John  Browning's  farm,  where  she  refugeed  in  '64.  At  the  cloee  of  the 
war,  in  October  '66,  she  opened  a  large  school  in  Wilmington,  and  while 
she  had  charge  of  this  she  wrote  President  Davis,  who  had  then  lost  every 
thing,  asking  him  to  send  her  his  oldest  daughter,  Maggie,  and  allow  her 
to  educate  her.  The  letter  making  the  offer  has  lately  been  published 
in  the  Collection  of  Letters  and  Papers  of  President  Davis,  arranged  by 
Dr.  Dembar  Rowland,  of  Mississippi. 

To  her  death  Mrs.  Ransom  loved  the  South  and  her  agony  at  her  hus- 
band's absence  in  the  war  was  increased  by  the  knowledge  that  her  only 
brother  and  her  only  sister's  husband  were  on  the  other  side,  and  she 
dreaded  them  ever  meeting. 

Here  is  a  recollection  of  Mrs.  Fannie  Ransom  Williams,  of  her  child- 
hood while  refugeeing : 

"We  had  stopped  somewhere  for  the  night,  and  had  no  bread. 
Mother  tried  to  buy  some  meal,  but  the  negroes,  and  they  were  the  only 
people  in  the  number,  would  not  sell  us  any,  so  our  old  mammy  went  out 
and  got  a  little,  I  don't  know  how.  Having  nothing  to  mix  with  it,  I 
remember  going  with  "Mammy"  to  pick  up  persimmons,  which  they 
baked  in  the  corn  meal  we  ate." 

Truly  the  name  of  Mrs.  Robert  Ransom  should  be  remembered  as  one 
of  our  "Women  of  the  Sixties,"  as  she  gave  her  heart  and  means  to  the 
Southern  Cause,  though  born  beyond  the  "Mason  and  Dixon  Line." 
Her  splendid  spirit  is  inherited  by  her  daughter,  one  of  our  honored  Ex- 
Division  Presidents,  Mrs.  Fannie  Ransom  Williams. 

Mrs.  William  Parsley,  Founder  of  the  N.  C.  Division  U.  D.  C. 

TO  MOTHERS  OF  THE  U.  D.  C. 

(By  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Brockman) 

With  gallant  stars  a-glimmer 

On  a  field  of  royal  blue 

As  aguide  and  an  inspiration, 

Southern  women,  loyal  and  true, 

Formed  a  circle  wide  as  the  heavens 

~bAade  a  vow  as  firm  as  the  stars, 

To  build  a  shrine  forever 

Round  their  hallowed  Stars  and  Bars. 


98  Worth  Carolina  Women 

Then  here's  to  the  loyal  women, 
Of  the  State  we  love  the  best, 
Who  have  \e\?t  alive  through  trying  years 
A  page  that  will  stand  the  test 
Of  all  history's  searchlights, 
Of  all  that  the  years  set  free — • 
The  women  who  sealed  the  heart  of  the  South 
In  the  shrine  of  the  U.  D.  C. 
One  of  the  most  beloved  and  honored  of  the  North  Carolina  women 
of  the  sixties  was  Mrs.  Wm.  M.  Parsley,  (Eliza  Hall  Nutt)  of  Wilming' 
ton,  "Mother"  and  organiser  of  the  N.  C.  Division  U.  D.  C.     Mrs.  Pars' 
ley  was  made  a  widow  of  the  Confederacy  on  April  6th,  1865,  her  gallant 
young  Colonel  husband  being  killed  three  days  before  the  surrender. 
State's  rights,  patriotism  and  duty  were  her  watchwords,  and  she  con' 
tinued  after  his  death  to  live  up  to  these  principles.       She  realised  it  was 
her  duty  to  help  the  wornout  and  disabled  soldiers,  to  encourage  those 
who  came  from  the  war  disheartened,  to  give  them  comfort  and  help  them 
begin  life  anew.     Knowing  there  were  many  worse  off  than  hereslf  she 
asked  her  father  to  help  them,  and  accepted  a  position  in  a  school. 
There  she  began  the  education  of  her  two  little  girls. 

In  December,  1894,  she  organised  the  Cape  Fear  Chapter  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  and  in  April,  1895,  she  organized  the 
N.  C.  Division  of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  being 
unanimously  elected  its  first  president.  Chapters  and  individuals  went 
to  her  for  guidance  and  she  urged  all  to  teach  the  coming  generation 
correct  history.  That  the  southern  soldiers  were  heroes  and  not  traitors. 
She  was  literally  a  "Mother"  of  the  Confederacy,  for  she  had  loved,  and 
suffered  and  lost.  Her  life  was  a  benediction  to  many  a  soldier,  for  she 
fully  understood  the  incomparable  privations  of  a  southern  soldier's  life. 
She  gave  her  gallant  husband  to  the  cause  and  her  very  last  years  in  work 
for  her  beloved  Confederate  Veterans. 

"A  daughter  of  the  Confederacy, 
One  thought  upholds  her  courage 
In  storm  and  stress  and  gloom — 
She  will  not  fail  or  trifle, 
Will  bravely  play  her  part; 
Because  she  \nows  a  hero's  blood 
Is  beating  in  her  heart." 


of  the  Confederacy  99 

The  following  incident  of  a  woman  of  the  Sixties  in  Lexington  is 
narrated  by  Miss.  Camille  Holt  Hunt,  whose  mother,  Francis  Holt,  (Mrs. 
C.  A.  Hunt)  whiled  away  many  hours  for  her  children  with  tales  of  her 
Childhood  in  the  Confederacy. 

"My  Grandmother,  Louisa  Hogan,  wife  of  Dr.  William  R.  Holt,  and 
her  daughters,  Claudia,  Frances  (my  mother)  and  Amelia,  lived  at  the 
"Homestead"  in  Lexington,  during  the  days  of  the  sixties.  Four  sons 
having  gone  to  the  front,  all  of  whom  died  during  the  period  of  the  war. 

"My  Grandfather,  altho  a  practicing  physician,  owned  a  large  plan' 
tation  at  Linwood,  seven  miles  from  Lexington,  where  he  had  spent  much 
of  his  time  in  orded  to  save  what  he  could  from  raiders  of  all  sorts,  as 
he  owned  much  cotton,  stock,  and  fine  mules.  Therefore  my  grand- 
mother and  her  three  daughters  were  without  male  protection  save  for 
the  faithful  slaves. 

"The  days  of  1861-65,  when  this  section  lived  in  constaint  fear  of  the 
coming  of  the  Yankees  and  the  depredations  they  might  commit,  were 
anxious  ones  for  all  southern  women,  especially  in  1865,  when  things 
were  more  lawless  than  ever. 

"Finally  the  day  arrived  when  General  Kilpatrick  and  his  men  did 
arrive  in  Lexington.  The  women  in  town  previous  to  this,  made  a  raid 
on  all  places  where  whiskey  was  kept  and  poured  it  out,  and  all  valuables 
were  hidden.  As  was  the  custom  of  these  men  on  their  march,  they 
demanded  the  best  houses  for  their  use,  service  and  whatever  they  cared 
to  take.  My  grandmother,  realising  how  unprotected  she  and  her 
daughters  would  be,  used  much  wisdom  and  good  judgment  in  the  man- 
ner with  which  she  managed  the  situation. 

"She  dispatched  her  faithful  butler,  "Jerry,"  with  a  note  to  General 
Kilpatrick  when  he  reached  the  suburbs  of  town,  extending  to  him  and 
his  staff  an  invitation  to  be  the  guests  of  Mrs.  W.  R.  Holt,  at  her  resi- 
dence the  "Homestead,"  wihle  in  town.  This  surprised  the  General  but 
dence,  the  "Homestead,"  while  in  town.  This  surprised  the  General,  but 
came  to  the  front  door  where  my  grandmother  met  him  with  a  courtesy. 

"The  General,  recognizing  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  a  lady  to 
the  manner  born,  accepted  the  hospitality  offered  with  deference  and 
respect  and  assured  her  that  she  and  her  family  would  be  treated  with 
consideration.  Other  homes  were  much  abused  and  the  owners  suffered 
indignities. 


100  7\[orth  Carolina  Women 

"The  Homestead,  at  this  time  was  the  handsomest  place  in  town, 
standing  100  feet  from  the  street  amidst  stately  elm  trees,  occupying 
several  acres.  This  was  made  the  General's  headquartrs.  In  relating 
this  my  grandmother  said  that  her  blood  boiled  within  her  when  she 
,  talked  with  the  General,  and  the  girls  were  weeping  with  anger  and  re- 
bellion upstairs,  but  she  knew  they  were  helpless,  and  for  the  safety  of 
her  young  daughters,  pride  had  to  be  put  aside. 

"A  United  States  flag  was  placed  at  the  gate,  and  a  guard  carrying 
a  gun,  paced  back  and  forth  in  front  of  the  house  day  and  night.  Traces 
of  the  path  he  made  over  the  greensward  remained  there  for  many 
months. 

"My  grandmother  and  the  girls  occupied  two  bedrooms,  on  the  door< 
facings  of  which  are  still  the  iron  receptacles  for  holding  the  bars  across 
the  doors.  The  girls  ate  their  meals  in  their  room,  for  they' were  very 
rebellious,  and  would  not  speak  to  them,  (the  Yankees)  especially  the 
youngest,  sixteen  years  of  age.  But  my  grandmother  took  her  place  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  thus  demanding  order  and  respect  at  her  board. 

"As  was  usual,  the  kitchen,  a  large  structure,  was  situated  50  feet 
from  the  "big"  house,  and  many  out  buildings  were  scattered  over  the 
place.  Maria  and  Betsy  hated  to  cook  for  the  Yankees  at  first,  but  liberal 
tips  overcame  this  to  some  extent.  One  day  the  General  asked  if  his 
French  Chef,  who  was  with  him,  could  go  to  the  kitchen  and  prepare 
'some  of  the  food,  this  was  permitted  and  he  served  many  tempting 
dishes,  none  of  which  the  girls  would  touch.  They  had  the  best  of 
everything,  of  course  sugar  and  coffee  were  scarce  in  those  days  but  they 
had  plenty  of  both,  loaf  sugar  in  25-lb.  blocks.  My  grandmother  saved 
one  of  these  until  her  oldest  daughter  was  married  and  her  wedding 
cakes  were  made  of  it. 

"One  of  the  staff  had  a  large  trunk  in  his  room  filled  with  beautiful 
ladies  wearing  apparel  and  silver  which  belonged  to  a  lady  in  South  Caro' 
lina,  which  he  had  confiscated.  These  he  showed  to  the  maids  Thenie 
and  Mandy,  who  tolds  the  girls. 

"In  their  private  conversation,  many  tales  were  told  of  what  they 
done  in  other  places  on  their  march,  which  convinced  my  grandmother 
that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  treat  them  as  tho  she  believed  them  to  be 
gentlemen,  and  thus  demand  their  respect. 


of  the  Confederacy  101 

"They  had  many  fine  horses,  which  delighted  Kas,  the  coachman, 
and  he  wanted  his  mistress  to  accept  a  pair  of  these  for  the  carriage,  but 
,she  would  not,  but  when  they  left  the  General  presented  Aunt  Amelia 
.with  a  beautiful  black  pony  which  she  finally  accepted  and  called  "Kih 
patrick."  They  had  fine  Game  chickens,  and  would  go  to  the  far  end 
of  the  place  and  indulge  in  cock  fighting,  which  would  please  the 
darkies. 

"When  the  General  took  his  departure  he  was  most  profuse  in  his 
thanks,  and  left  some  gold  for  my  grandmother,  which  was  about  all  they 
had  except  land  to  weather  thro  the  reconstruction  period." 


102  Worth  Carolina  Women 

YOUNG  WOMEN  TAKE  MEN'S  PLACES 

"Dixie  land  of  the  long  ago,  from  your  flower  hordeded  pathway  we 
gather  these  blossoms  of  history  to  weave  a  chaplet  of  glory  to  crown 
the  girl  heroes  of  the  South  in  the  Sixties." 

After  awhile  when  every  male,  both  old  men  and  young  boys,  in 
the  defense  of  their  homes,  the  young  women  were  taken  in  at  the  mili' 
tary  posts,  to  do  the  work  that  a  young  man  might  do,  (as  a  stenographer 
of  the  present  day).  Early  in  1864  the  positions  as  clerk  or  copyists 
were  offered  to  four  young  gentle  women,  Misses  Campbell,  Stedman, 
Taylor  and  Ellison,  at  the  Fayetteville  arsenal.  The  officials  at  the 
arsenal  treated  the  young  women  clerks  as  honored  guests,  which  the 
latter  greatly  appreciated.  They  remained  there  'till  Sherman's  army, 
in  March  "65,  destroyed  every  building  on  the  arsenal  grounds.  As  there 
was  no  money,  the  pay  given  these  young  ladies  was  black  alpaca,  which 
was  kept  in  the  arsenal  to  use  in  some  way  in  making  cartridges.  The 
alpaca,  combined  with  scraps  of  colored  silk,  made  most  elaborate  dresses 
for  these  girls. 

After  the  burning  of  her  home  by  the  Yankees  in  Washington,  N. 
C,  Miss  E.  M.  B.  Koyt  offered  her  services  as  clerk  in  the  Commissary 
Department  at  Granville,  under  Major  De  Meille,  her  brother-in-law. 
Her  pay  for  faithful  and  efficient  service  was  in  tobacco,  which  was  sold 
for  twelve  dollars  in  greenbacks. 

Miss  Anna  Johnson,  of  Sampson  county,  enlisted  as  clerk  at  Brigade 
Headquarters  in  February  '63,  and  served  most  efficiently. 

Another  young  woman  whom  North  Carolina  claims,  who  took  a 
man's  place  in  the  service  of  the  Confederate  Government  was  Miss  Isa' 
bell  Gill.  Miss  Gill  served  in  the  Confederate  Treasury  Department  and 
her  signature  is  on  many  of  the  Confederate  bills  which  are  now  treasured 
relics.  Her  quick  intelligence  and  fitness  made  her  a  valuable  worker 
and  her  service  was  highly  commended  by  the  Confederate  authorities. 

The  Children's  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  at  New- 
ton, North  Carolina,  is  named  in  honor  of  this  young  woman,  who  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  married  a  Confederate  soldier  of  that  town,  Sidney 
Wilfong,  one  of  four  brothers  in  the  Confederacy. 


of  the  Confederacy  103 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  YOUNG  GIRLS 

"I  wish  I  was  in  Dixie,  away,  away. 
In  Dixie's  land  I'll  ta\e  my  stand, 
To  live  and  die  in  Dixie." 


Some  of  the  younger  women  kept  diaries  during  the  sixties  and  that 
kept  by  Miss  Mary  Ashe  is  a  noteworthy  record  of  the  life  of  a  young  girl 
during  these  terrible  four  years.  This  girl  of  19  (when  the  war  began) 
was  one  whom  those  who  knew  her  put  almost  on  a  pedestal,  and  her 
diary  shows  her  personal  emotions  with  her  prayers.  It  deserves  pre' 
servation  as  indicating  life  among  North  Carolinians  at  this  period,  and 
is  illustrative  that  North  Carolina  women  presented  an  example  never 
surpassed.  Miss  Ashe  tells  of  her  first  war  days  spent  in  the  country, 
at  Rocky  Point,  near  Wilmington,  with  her  invalid  mother  and  young 
sister,  (herself  a  delicate  girl).  Her  father,  the  Hon.  William  S.  Ashe, 
in  the  Confederate  service  at  R:chmond,having  charge  of  the  important 
duties  of  army  transportation  from  the  Mississippi  river  to  Virginia — 
one  brother,  Maj.  John  Grange,  at  first  with  General  Bragg  at  Mobile 
and  then  in  Lee's  army,  and  the  other,  (Captain  Samuel  Ashe)  our  State's 
distinguished  historian,  also  in  active  service  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
first  sorrow  mentioned  in  this  interesting  diary  was  the  tragic  death  of 
her  father,  from  a  railroad  accident,  Sept.  '62.  At  this  time  the  diary 
records  the  imprisonment  in  Washington  City  of  the  brother  Samuel. 
After  a  hard  winter  the  next  grief  recorded  is  the  death  of  the  invalid 
mother.  Miss  Ashe  tells  how  the  good  God  provided  for  her  and  her 
little  sisters,  and  at  length  when  her  brother  Samuel  was  ordered  from  the 
front  (unsought  by  him)  to  the  position  of  Assistant  to  the  Command' 
ing  Officer  at  the  Fayetteville  arsenal.  Here  the  brother  made  a  home 
for  his  young  sisters,  who  busied  themselves  in  activities  for  their  sol' 
dies  boys,  with  the  other  ladies  of  the  town. 

Though  the  handwriting  is  dim  with  years  yet  this  little  diary  of 
Mary  Porter  Ashe's  contain  a  story  duplicated  among  many  of  our  wo- 


104  Worth  Carolina  'Women 

men  from  '61  to  ""65,  and  it  is  a  memorial  to  this  lovely  young  girl,  whose 
life  was  cut  off  toward  the  close  of  the  war. 

"Old  times  there  are  not  forgotten, 
Loo\  away,  loo\  away,  Dixie  Land." 

The  following  is  written  by  Miss  Kate  McKimmon,  for  many  years 
the  honored  and  beloved  "mother"  of  the  girls  at  St.  Mary's  School, 
Raleigh,  and  a  devoted  lover  of  the  Confederacy. 

"The  first  five  years  of  the  "60's"  found  me  as  I  still  am,  an  uncon' 
structed  rebel!  As  a  school  girl  at  St.  Mary's,  I  enjoyed  marching  with 
our  "crowd,"  when  with  paper  caps,  Confederate  flag  and  a  drum  we 
paraded  around  the  grove.  In  '61  on  Saturday  in  the  early  spring  the 
"crowd"  was  proud  to  go  to  the  Capitol  to  help  the  ladies  who  were 
making  "fatigue"  suits  for  Manly's  Battery.  Some  of  us  would  run 
down  to  the  "Tuckers"  or  "McKimmon's"  for  thread,  needles  and  ma' 
terial,  gray  flannel  for  the  suits.  Others  would  carry  messages  and  ma' 
terials  from  room  to  room.  Well  do  I  remember  the  day  the  Battery, 
of  which  my  brother  was  a  member,  came  to  salute  Gov.  Ellis,  before 
leaving  Raleigh  to  join  Lee's  army  in  Virginia.  Four  years  of  honorable, 
courageous  service  that  battery  gave  the  Confederacy,  standing  by  our 
Chieftain's  side  until  he  gave  the  command  to  surrender. 

"St.  Mary's  School  has  a  proud  war  record!  Her  doors  were  never 
closed  to  the  request  for  help  from  those  who,  as  "The  War"  waged 
its  relentless  course  were  deprived  of  their  homes;  among  those  who  asked 
for  a  home  during  the  sad  days  was  the  family  of  Jefferson  Davis,  the 
beloved  President  of  the  Confederacy.  The  "East  Rock,"  as  known  to 
St.  Mary's  girls,  furnished  a  refuge  to  Mrs.  Davis  and  four  children,  dur' 
ing  the  summer  of  '63.  The  beloved  founder,  Dr.  Albert  Smedes,  edu' 
cated  many  girls  during  these  years  whose  fathers,  being  short  of  cash, 
brought  their  tuition  in  the  form  of  provisions. 

"When  in  ^65,  Johnson's  army  passed  through  Raleigh,  footsore,  rag- 
ged, hungry,  tradition  has  it  that  St.  Mary's  girls  carried  their  dinner 
out  to  the  gate  and  gave  it  to  them.  Well  do  I  remember  the  day, 
April  12,  '65.  Throughout  Raleigh,  all  along  their  march,  food  and 
water  were  carried  to  them.  The  appearance  of  that  brave  body  of  men, 
emaciated  from  lack  of  food  and  clothing,  did  not  tend  to  produce  any 


of  the  Confederacy  105 

enjoyment  in  seeing  the  Yankee  army,  fat,  sleek,  with  banners  flying, 
drums  beating,  pass  through  our  city,  three  days  being  required  to  accom' 
plish  it.  "Tecumseh  Billie,"  alias  Gen.  Sherman,  pitched  his  tent  in 
what  was  then  the  "'Governor's  Palace."  My  home  was  diagonally 
across  the  street,  hence  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  many  more  "blue' 
coats"  than  I  desired.  At  night,  I  was  often  awakened  by  strains  of 
beautiful  music,  for  a  moment  I  would  enjoy  the  music  of  silver  instru' 
ments,  but  when  I  would  realise  the  instruments  were  "Yankee,1''  I  would 
"cover  up"  and  try  not  to  hear. 

"Raleigh  was  surrendered  to  Gen.  Sherman  on  his  entrance  to  the 
city,  hence  I  am  glad  to  say  there  was  no  robbing  or  sacking  .  As  to 
the  "reconstruction"  period,  I  leave  its  description  to  abler  pens  than 
mine.  North  Carolina  was,  I  am  glad  to  say,  more  fortunate  than 
some  of  her  sister  States,  S.  C.  and  Louisiana  for  example,  but  insults 
and  indignities,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  were  heaped  upon  all  who 
gloried  in  our  beloved  Southland." 

Written  by  a  devoted  woman  of  the  South,  who  as  a  young  girl,  was 
eye'witness  to  what  she  has  written. 

Though  we  are  recording  the  part  that  the  women  and  young  girls 
took  in  the  Confederacy,  yet  in  almost  every  town  of  the  State  the  boys 
were  too  young  to  be  accepted  for  service,  these  youngsters  gave  real 
assistance  to  the  women.  We  have  mentioned  the  part  taken  by  two  of 
these  "boys,"  Benehan  Cameron  and  Francis  Winston,  and  now  we  will 
give  a  few  of  the  recollections  of  another  "little  boy  of  the  sixties."  He 
is  now  North  Carolina's  valued  Historian  (who  has  done  so  much  to 
preserve  our  Confederate  history)  Col.  F.  A.  Olds,  collector  of  the 
State's  Hall  of  History,  Raleigh. 

"The  little  boy  of  1861-65,  who  writes  these  reminiscences  now,  used 
to  go  to  Sunday  School  during  the  war  between  the  States.  There  were 
no  "lessons"  as  they  have  now,  and  the  churches  were  small.  It  was  a 
sad  time  but  few  people  were  mourning;  except  in  the  large  places.  There 
were  colporteurs,  who  took  "tracts"  and  Bibles  to  the  soldiers  in  the 
camps.  The  writer  now  has  a  lot  of  the  tracts,  printed  by  the  Confed' 
erate  Bible  Society. 

"Sometimes  soldiers  came  into  the  little  schools  and  made  talks  to  the 
youngsters.     The  writer  was  studying  that  then  wonderful  text  book 


106  Tvjorth  Carolina  Women 

"The  Scholar's  Companion,"  and  McGruffy's  Readers.  Recitations 
were  extremely  popular  then,  and  the  girls  were  always,  or  nearly  so, 
cleverer  than  the  boys. 

"We  youngsters  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  "patrollers,"  as  the 
negroes  always  called  the  "patrols11  of  citizens  who  kept  order.  There 
was  a  darky  song,  "Run,  nigger,  run,  de  patroller'l  ketch  you;  run,  nig' 
ger,  run,  it's  almost  day." 

"New  Year's  Day  was  also  a  great  occasion  in  those  days.  "People 
of  quality"  kept  open  houses.  There  were  streams  of  callers,  all  gen' 
tlemen,  young  and  old,  and  the  ladies  were  "At  Home"  to  them.  There 
'was  "eggnog"  in  the  hall  and  a  collation  in  the  dining  room.  People 
had  good  appetites  in  those  days  and  the  hospitality  was  most  generous 
and  real.  There  was  no  "paint  and  powder,"  no  "makeup,"  but  every 
thing  was  hearty  and  natural.  It  is  a  joy  to  have  lived  in  those  days, 
when  there  was  no  dope,  cigarettes,  "gas,"  or  wild  hurry  to, crowd  "a 
lifetime  in  a  week." 

"The  main  street  of  Salisbury  has  quite  a  slope  and  one  wet  night 
as  the  mother  of  the  writer  was  bringing  him  along  on  this  street  a  cour' 
ier  dashed  up  on  a  big  horse.  He  was  a  little  fellow,  just  a  boy,  and 
as  he  pulled  up  his  horse  the  latter  stumbled  and  threw  him.  The  lad  fell 
on  his  head  and  his  brains  were  exposed  as  he  lay  in  a  few  yards  of  us. 

"The  "refugees,"  who  had  lived  in  the  eastern  counties  of  the  State, 
and  who  fled  when  the  Federal  troops  occupied  the  sone  northward  from 
New  Bern,  were  also  objects  of  interest.  The  up'country  was  strange 
to  not  a  few  of  them,  as  very  few  people  traveled  in  those  days.  They 
brought  their  slaves  with  them,  unless  the  latter  had  "run  away."  In 
those  days  Raleigh  and  Hillsboro  were  considered  by  the  coastahplain 
folks  to  be  "up'country." 

"Thrift  and  infinitely  careful  saving  were  seen  on  all  sides.  To  waste 
was  a  sin  in  that  trying  time  of  war,  and  also  before  the  war  and  after 
it.  With  1,000,000  soldiers  to  clothe  and  feed,  with  no  end  of  other 
pressing  necessities  to  be  met,  every  white  and  every  black  worked, 
worked,  and  worked.  North  Carolina  had  a  fifth  of  all  the  600,000 
Confederate  soldiers  (from  13  States)  and  hers  were  the  best  looked  after. 
Besides  this  North  Carolina  was  to  an  immense  extent  a  furnisher  of 
supplies  to  the  rest  of  the  Confederate  armies.  The  state  hummed  like 
a  beehive." 


of  the  Confederacy  10? 


FIRST  CONFEDERATE  FLAGS  MADE  BY 
NORTH  CAROLINA  WOMEN 


OUR  DIVISION  SONG 

"There's  a  banner  we  uphold, 

A  banner  without  stain; 

And  in  each  precious  fold, 

We  can  see  the  past  again, 

Oh,  the  gallant  hosts  It  lead, 

Have  become  our  glory  dead, 

But  the  stars  and  bars  will  live  forever." 

(Anna  Jones  ~Wooten) 

When  the  North  Carolina  regiments  marched  off  to  war  in  the  Con' 
federate  army,  each  regiment  was  required  to  have  the  regulation  Con' 
federate  and  North  Carolina  Flags,  both, of  which  were  furnished  by 
the  State.  In  many  communities  the  women  with  loving  hands  made 
with  artistic  embroidery,  special  flags  for  their  regiments,  and  quite  a 
little  ceremony  of  presentation  took  place  as  the  boys  in  grey  marched 
off  so  gallantly. 

A  very  few  descriptions  of  these  "presentation  flags11  have  been  se- 
cured,  though  many  more  communities  than  are  recorded  gave  flags  to 
their  special  regiments. 

The  names  of  Mrs.  Rebecca  Winborne  and  Major  Orren  Randolph 
Smith,  (Louisburg,  North  Carolina)  are  inseparably  linked  with  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  from  the  fact  that  Captain  Smith  designed  and 
Mrs.  Winborne  made  the  first  Confederate  flag,  the  "Stars  and  Bars.11 
After  completing  the  design  for  the  flag,  after  the  Confederate  Congress 
had  advertised  for  models,  Captain  Smith  went  to  his  friend,  (then  Miss 
Rebecca  Murphy,  later  Mrs.  Winborne,)  and  she  put  togeteher  and 
stitched  the  pieces  for  the  flag.  This  was  sent  to  Montgomery  and  ac- 
cepted by  the  Confederate  Congress  as  the  official  flag  of  the  Confed- 
eracy in  1861.     Mrs.  Winborne  also  made  a  larger  flag,  nine  by  twelve 


108  "Horth  Carolina  Womert 

feet,  which  was  sent  aloft  on  March  18th,  1861,  on  the  Court  House 
square  at  Louisburg,  N.  C,  two  months  before  North  Carolina  seceded. 

The  description  of  the  flag  as  told  by  Mr.  Smith  is  as  follows : 

"The  idea  of  my  flag  I  took  from  the  Trinity — Three-in-One.  The 
three  bars  were  the  Church,  State  and  Press.  Red  represented  State, 
Legislative,  Judiciary  and  Executive;  White  for  Church,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost;  Red  for  Press,  Freedom  of  Speech,  Fredom  of  Con- 
science, Liberty  of  Press,  all  bound  together  by  a  field  of  blue,  the  heavens 
over  all,  bearing  a  star  for  each  State  in  the  Confederacy.  The  seven 
white  stars,  all  the  same  size,  were  placed  in  a  circle,  showing  that  each 
State  had  equal  rights  and  privileges,  irrespective  of  size  or  population. 
The  circle  having  neither  head  nor  foot,  signified  "You  defend  me,  and 
I'll  protect  you.11 

All  claims  and  proof  of  these  claims  have  been  laid  before  a  committee 
of  the  four  Confederate  organisations  and  all  four  have  decided  that 
to  Orren  Randolph  Smith  of  North  Carolina  belongs  the  honor  of  hav 
ing  designed  the  Stars  and  Bars,  first  Confederate  flag.  A  beautiful 
marble  fountain  has  been  erected  by  the  North  Carolina  Division  U. 
D.  C.  in  Louisburg,  in  memory  of  the  designer  of  this  flag,  thus  showing 
the  appreciation  the  women  of  his  State  have  for  Orren  Randolph  Smith. 

The  North  Carolina  Division  of  the  U.  D.  C.  has  fittingly  placed  a 
monument  at  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Winborne  in  Wilson.  The  coming  into 
existence  of  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  placed  on  a  high  place  in  the  history 
of  the  Lost  Cause  the  name  of  this  lovely  Southern  woman,  who  proud- 
ly and  lovingly  constructed  the  flag  under  which  Lee  and  Jackson  led 
our  splendid  soldiers  to  battle. 

The  ladies  of  Louisburg  can  probably  enjoy  the  honor  of  having  made 
the  first  public  presentation  of  the  "Stars  and  Bars"  to  a  military  com' 
pany.  It  was  presented  to  the  Franklin  Rifles,  in  April,  1861,  before 
North  Carolina  seceded,  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Malone,  of  Laurinburg,  has  the 
paper  containing  the  speech  made  by  Miss  Ella  Nobles,  and  the  one  of 
acceptance  by  Captain  W.  F.  Green,  also  one  by  the  Ensign,  W.  K. 
Barham.     The  old  flag  is  in  the  Hall  of  History  in  Raleigh. 

General  W.  A.  Smith,  Commander  of  the  N.  C.  Division  U.  C.  V., 
tells  us  that  in  Ansonville,  on  February  2nd,  1861,  a  Secession  flag  was 
flung  to  the  breeze,  in  large  letters  at  the  top  was  the  word  "Secession," 


of  the  Confederacy  109 

while  underneath  was  this  motto:  "Resistance  to  oppression  is  obedience 
to  God.1''  The  flag  was  six  by  nine  feet  and  attached  to  a  long  pole. 
Several  young  men  of  the  village  had  made  this  flag  of  calico.  The 
next  day  they  carried  it  to  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Garrett,  "an  enthusiast 
in  the  cause  of  secession,'"  who,  assisted  by  the  young  ladies  made  a 
large  flag  of  bunting,  a  duplicate  of  the  calico  flag.  This  flag  was  un- 
furled  on  the  afternoon  of  February  3rd,  '61,  Misses  Kate  Smith  and 
Winnie  Watson  made  four  rosettes  and  pinned  them  on  the  lapels  of 
the  young  men  who  made  the  first  flag,  which,  said  one  of  them,  "made 
us  very  proud  and  we  walked  the  streets  as  vain  as  peacocks."  Under 
cover  of  darkness,  this  first  secession  flag  of  bunting  was  cut  down  and 
destroyed,  but  these  dauntless  women  made  another  larger  and  of  finer 
material.  No  further  attempts  were  made  against  it  when  hung.  When 
the  "Anson  Grands,"  the  first  company  in  the  State  to  offer  its  services 
to  Governor  Ellis,  left  for  the  front  this  secession  flag  was  given  to  John 
Waddell  to  be  presented  to  Governor  Ellis. 

The  women  of  Wadesboro  made  a  silk  flag  for  the  Anson  Guards  as 
they  left  for  war.  It  was  of  white  with  letters  of  blue,  the  silk  being 
bought  at  Mr.  Stacy's  store,  the  letters  being  cut  by  Mrs.  Lem  Beeman. 
This  flag  (now  in  the  Hall  of  History)  was  presented  to  the  Anson 
Guards  in  April  '61,  by  Mrs.  Hampton  B.  Hammond  in  behalf  of  the 
ladies  and  was  received  by  Captain  Risden  Tyler  Bennett  (later  a  col- 
onel at  twenty-one)  the  father  of  Mrs.  Eugene  Little,  Ex-President  of 
this  Division. 


One  of  the  oldest  Confederate  flags  in  our  Hall  of  History  was  made 
and  embroidered  by  Miss  Christine  Fisher,  of  Salisbury,  made  from  a 
blue  China  crepe  ladies1  shawl,  with  the  seal  of  North  Carolina  in  high 
relief  in  the  center.  It  was  presented  to  her  brother's  (Colonel  Fisher's) 
regiment,  and  embroidered  on  it  was  "Sixth  Infantry  State  Troops"  with 
the  regimental  motto  (chosen  by  Colonel  Fisher)  "Do  or  Die."  On  the 
reverse  side  was  "May  20th,  1775,"  date  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declara- 
tion. 

The  young  ladies  of  Salisbury  also  made  a  silk  flag  for  the  Rowan 
Artillery,  and  it  was  presented  to  the  departing  soldiers  by  Miss  Martha 
Marorie. 


110  TSforth  Carolina  Women 

The  first  flag  made  in  Washington  was  by  Mrs.  F.  C.  Roberts  and 
Miss  Manly — a  silk  flag  the  length  of  the  room,  for  Fort  Macon,  a 
work  of  art,  embroidered  on  it  being  a  rattlesnake  around  a  pine  tree, 
the  old  State  flag. 


A  beautiful  flag  was  made  for  the  Buncombe  Riflemen  by  the  follow- 
ing young  ladies  of  Asheville:  Misses  Woodfin,  Patton,  Gaines,  and 
Smith.  Miss  Anna  Woodfin  being  chosen  to  present  it.  The  ma- 
terial of  the  flag  was  contributed  from  the  silk  dresses  of  these  young 
ladies.  The  "Riflemen'"  being  the  color  company  of  the  regiment  in  the 
battle  of  Bethel,  this  flag  was  the  first  one  baptised  in  blood  during  the 
war!  Miss  Woodfin  afterwards  wrought1  on  its  white  bar  with  blue 
silk,  the  word  "Bethel."  It  now  drapes  the  portrait  of  Henry  Wyatt 
in  the  State  Hall  of  History. 

The  women  of  Washington  gave  a  beautiful  silk  flag  to  the  "Wash- 
ington Grays'"  as  they  took  their  departure  for  the  war.  The  white 
stripe  in  the  flag  was  part  of  the  satin  wedding  gown  of  Mrs.  Thomas 
Myers,  a  cherished  treasure,  but  given  for  the  Confederate  Cause.  The 
account  reads  "In  the  presence  of  a  large  gathering  of  the  townspeople 
Miss  Clara  Hoyt  presented  the  flag  with  a  very  appropriate  address, 
and  displayed  a  warmth  of  manner,  a  graceful  self-possession,  and  a  pa- 
triotism of  feeling  that  none  but  a  Southern  lady  knows  how  to  exhibit. 
The  tenor  of  her  address  was  such  as  to  infuse  an  amount  of  ardor  and 
2,eal  into  the  company.  Added  to  this  influence  was  the  appearance  of 
several  young  ladies  dressed  in  white,  while  such  insignia  as  was  em- 
blematic of  each  seceding  State. 

Their  countenances  beamed  with  an  expression  calculated  to  thrill 
the  hearts  of  all  who  were  about  to  leave  at  their  country's  call."  In 
the  fall  of  1860,  a  Confederate  flag  made  by  Mrs.  Watters  and  other 
ladies,  was  flung  from  the  window  on  the  Court  House,  after  a  speech 
of  acceptance. 


Mrs.  A.nna  McNair  led  the  women  of  Tarboro  in  making  their  first 
flag,  all  the  stars  being  outlined  with  white  star  braid.  This  was  pre- 
sented to  the  "Edgecombe  Guards,"  their  first  volunteers,  by  Miss  Cor- 
nelia Crenshaw,  in  a  charming  little  spech. 


of  the  Confederacy  111 

Under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Patrick  Henry  Winston,  the  women 
of  Windsor,  Bertie  county,  (among  them  being  Misses  Outlaw  and 
Webb)  made  a  flag  for  Company  C,  11th  N.  C.  Regiment,  of  which 
Lieut.  Col.  Francis  W.  Byrd  was  an  officer.  The  flag  was  carried  in 
many  desperate  battles  and  encounters,  badly  torn  by  shot  and  shell,  and 
tattered  by  wind  and  rain.  Rough  soldier  hands  patched  it  as  far  as 
they  could  and  followed  this  precious  emblem  made  by  their  sisters  at 
home.  When  Lee  surrendered,  the  flag  was  in  possession  of  Company 
C,  Colonel  Byrd  having  been  killed  at  Rhemn's  station.  Captain  Edward 
Outlaw  and  others  on  the  morning  of  the  surrender  took  the  flag  and 
secreted  it  under  his  coat,  and  went  in  a  small  skirt  of  woods  and  after 
tearing  out  a  square  of  it,  they  burned  it,  rather  than  it  should  fall  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  This  precious  relfc  Captain  Outlaw  kept  until 
his  death.  He  was  buried  in  1922,  in  the  beautiful  Episcopal  Church 
yard  at  Windsor,  dressed  in  his  Confederate  uniform  and  pinned  above 
his  heart  was  the  small  rag  torn  from  the  old  tattered  flag. 

When  Shelby's  first  company  under  the  leadership  of  Captain  A.  W. 
Burton  departed  for  the  war  they  were  presented  with  a  handsome  Con' 
federate  flag  made  by  Miss  Julia  Durham,  (later  Mrs.  Green),  and 
several  Shelby  ladies. 

The  presentation  speech  was  made  by  Miss  Durham,  who  at  the  time 
was  only  15  years  of  age,  and  reveals  the  faith  and  courage  with  which 
the  daughters  of  the  South  sent  away  their  men  to  fight  for  the  beloved 
cause.  The  speech  which  has  been  preserved  through  the  years  is  as 
follows : 

"We  in  the  name  of  the  ladies  of  Shelby  present  you  this  flag.  It 
is  to  assure  you  of  the  deep  interest  we  feel  in  this  coming  crisis.  Re' 
gardless  of  northern  scoffing  and  Southern  terroism  you  have  at  last 
faced  your  destiny  and  may  the  god  of  battle  assist  you  to  maintain 
the  honor  of  the  Old  North  State  and  defend  those  rights  maintained  by 
our  forefathers  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775.  We  have  adopted  the  flag 
of  the  Confederate  States,  whose  interests  are  inseparable  from  our  own, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  our  heartfelt  sympathy  for,  and  CO' 
operate  with  our  noble  brothers  of  the  Sunny  South.  These  hands  shall 
unfurl  this  banner  to  the  breezes  and  it  shall  never  be  lowered  at  the 
command  of  the  hired  minions  of  Lincoln.     Our  cause  is  just  and  God 


112  7S[orth  Carolina  Women 

will  be  with  us.  May  you  who  have  sacrificed  your  greatest  interests 
to  come  forward  and  seek  eagerly  to  defend  your  country  at  every  ha2,' 
ard,  return  back  to  your  fond  homes  and  kindred  uninjured.  We  bid 
you  God  speed." 

The  first  flag  of  Forsyth  county  was  made  for  Company  I,  Captain 
A.  H.  Belo.  It  was  made  by  Misses  Bettie  and  Laura  Lemly,  Nellie 
Belo,  Carrie  and  Mary  Fries.  It  was  made  of  red,  white,  and  blue  silk, 
and  was  embroidered  in  all  large  letters,  with  yellow  silk,  on  the  white 
side,  with  the  words  "'Liberty  or  Death."  After  the  war,  Colonel 
Belo  settled  in  Texas,  which  accounts  for  the  fact  that  after  his  death 
his  widow  presented  the  flag  to  the  Texas  Room  in  the  Confederate 
Museum  at  Richmond,  Va.  The  second  flag  was.  made  by  the  same 
young  ladies.  They  could  not  get  more  silk  like  the  first,  so  used  white 
silk  for  the  whole  flag,  embroidering  it  in  blue  silk  with  the  verse, 

"Our  country  first  our  glory  and  our  pride, 
Land  of  our  hopes,  land  where  our  fathers  died, 
'When  in  the  right  we'll  \eep  thy  honor  bright, 
When  in  the  right  we'll  die  to  set  thee  right." 
This  flag  was  made  for  the  Co.  commanded  by  Capt.  Rufus  Wharton. 
It  was  carried  into  several  battles;  was  concealed  on  the  person  of  its 
Captain  at  the  fall  of  Plymouth,  and  was  brought  home  when  he  was 
exchanged.     It   was  presented  to  the  Wachovia  Historical   Society  of 
Winston-Salem,  several  years  ago,  by  Mrs.  Blythe,  of  Philadelphia. 

Both  of  these  flags  were  presented  to  the  Companies  of  the  Forsyth 
Rifles  by  Miss  Bettie  Lemly  (later  Mrs.  Blacknall  Brooks,  of  Salem,) 
being  carried  by  Misses  Laura  Lemly  (who  never  married)  and  Mary 
Fries  (who  married  Rufus  Lenoir  Patterson).  The  ceremony  took  place 
at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Bank  Streets,  the  young  ladies  standing  on 
the  steps  leading  to  the  entrance  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Belo 
Home,  then  a  private  residence  belonging  to  Captain  Belo's  father.  Miss 
■Sarah  E.  Shaffuer  remembers  passing  just  at  the  time  for  the  presentation 
of  the  first  flag,  and  being  touched  and  thrilled  by  the  sight  of  Miss 
Lemly  making  the  presentation  speech  to  Captain  Belo  and  his  company. 


The  last  company  from  Duplin  county  was  Company  E,  20th  N.  C. 
commanded  by  Captain  Denem,  afterward  sent  to  Virginia  with  Lewis 


of  the  Confederacy  113 

T.  Hicks  as  Captain.  As  soon  as  this  company  was  formed  and  ready 
to  leave  Miss  Rachale  Mclver  presented  it  with  a  handsome  flag,  which 
she  made  herself.  This  flag  was  taken  by  him  to  Virginia  and  carried 
through  the  war,  in  many  battles.  It  was  highly  appreciated  by  this 
company. 


A  flag  was  made  by  the  young  ladies  of  the  Wayne  County  Female 
Academy  for  the  Goldsboro  Rifles  and  presented  in  April  '61  to  the 
company's  commander  by  Captain  M.  D.  Craten  at  Fort  Macon.  This 
flag  was  the  only  one  laid  upon  the  casket  of  Jefferson  Davis  at  New 
Orleans.  It  is  now  on  exhibition  in  our  State  Hall  of  History  in  Raleigh 
presented  by  the  survivors  of  the  Goldsboro  Rifles. 

The  flag  that  was  used  at  the  funeral  of  Governor  Ellis  in  June  1861, 
had  its  motto,  "Deeds,  Not  Words11  embroidered  on  it;  this  is  also  one 
.  of  the  precious  relics  in  the  Hall  of  History. 


Another  flag  in  this  collection  is  that  made  by  Mrs.  W.  T.  Southerland 
and  presented  to  her  husband's  company  the  "Milton  Blues,11  of  Cash' 
well  county,  in  May  '61.  It  is  made  of  heavy  silk  embroidered  with 
eleven  stars  and  the  motto,  "On  to  Victory." 


A  handsome  flag  was  made  by  the  women  of  Fayetteville  for  the 
Bethel  Regiment,  composed  of  the  boys  of  the  historic  Fayetteville  In' 
dependent  Light  Infantry  and  the  LaFayette  Company,  who  were  in 
the  first  N.  C.  regiment.  This  was  presented  to  them  September  9th, 
'61,  and  was  embroidered  with  the  word  "Bethel.11 


A  beautiful  silk  flag  was  presented  to  the  1st  N.  C.  Cavalry,  com- 
mander by  (afterwards  General)  Robert  Ransom,  from  his  devoted  wife. 
With  her  own  hand  she  embroidered  a  flag  and  presented  it  to  the 
regiment  just  before  it  left  for  Richmond  to  be  reviewed  by  President 
Davis.  She  requested  that  the  flag  never  be  surrendered,  and  after 
the  fall  at  Appomattox,  one  of  the  men  wrote,  they  never  surrendered 
it,  but  sunk  it  in  the  river.  A  newspaper  clipping  of  this  presentation 
is  filed  with  General  Ransom's  things  in  the  Hall  of  History. 


114  Worth  Carolina  Women 

A  handsome  silk  flag  was  made  by  Mrs.  Elisabeth  Slade  Wiggins  for 
the  company  which  was  organised  by  her  husband  Mason  L.  Wiggins, 
in  Halifax  county  several  days  before  North  Carolina  seceded.  This 
mother  of  seven  sons  in  the  Confederacy  (herself  of  patriotic  revolu' 
tionary  stock)  was  ardent  in  her  love  for  the  Confederacy,  and  her 
home  "Woodlawn,"  was  the  mecca  for  the  sick  soldiers  who  came  through 
Halifax.  Her  diary,  kept  all  during  the  war,  is  filled  with  many  in' 
teresting  facts  and  bits  of  history  of  that  period  that  will  bear  preserv 
ing. 

In  her  sketch  of  Company  I,  6th  N.  C.  Regiment,  Mrs.  A.  J.  Ellis, 
the  beloved  historian  of  the  Raleigh  "Daughters,"  tells  of  the  presenta- 
tion of  a  beautiful  flag  to  these  boys  of  the  Morrisville  and  Cedar  Fork 
communities  of  Wake  County.  She  says,  "A  beautiful  banner  of  blue 
silk,  trimmed  with  white  silk  fringe,  the  N.  C.  coat  Of  arms  painted  in 
one  corner,  and  the  inscription.  "To  the  Morrisville  Grays  by  the  Ladies 
of  Cedar  Fork,"  in  the  center,had  been  made  by  Misses  Morris,  Page 
and  Lyon.  This  was  presented  to  the  company  by  Miss  Jennie  Lyon  in 
an  appropriate  address,  being  accepted  by  Lt.  Page.  After  patriotic 
songs  and  resounding  cheers  by  the  soldiers,  a  Bible  was  given  each  man 
by  the  ladies. 

The  flag  was  captured  during  the  war  by  Major  Wiggins,  of  Ohio, 
and  a  great  celebration  took  place  at  Cedar  Fork  when  it  was  received 
by  the  lady  who  first  presented  it,  now  Mrs.  Lowe.  This  flag  is  now  in 
the  Hall  of  History  in  Raleigh. 

"The  Stars  and  Bars  are  furled,  but  loved  the  same, 
And  through  the  bloody  stains  we  love  the  name 
Of  Stars  and  Stripes,  for  which  we  fight  today, 
The  old  flag  is  not  lost,  but  laid  away, 
So  do  not  say,  FORGETl" 


Flage  Presented  by  the  Charlotte  Women 

Charlotte  was  not  behind  the  other  communities  in  presenting  flags 
to  her  military  companies,  the  "Hornet's  Nest"  and  the  Charlotte  Grays," 
as  they  left  for  the  war. 


of  the  Confederacy  115 

Mrs.  J.  A.  Fore,  former  historian  of  the  North  Carolina  Division,  has 
given  this  very  interesting  account  of  the  presentation  ceremonies  of 
these  flags. 

"The  "Hornet's  Nest  Riflemen'"  were  organized  many  years  before 
the  war  between  the  States,  and  was  one  of  the  first  companies  to  volun- 
teer  and  be  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  State. 

"A  bautiful  Confederate  flag  was  presented  to  the  "Hornets11  by  the 
young  ladies  of  Charlotte,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1861,  and  the  presen' 
tation  speech  was  made  by  Miss  Sadler.  The  account  is  published  in 
"The  Daily  Bulletin,11  April  20th,  1861.  The  last  clause  of  her  speech 
reads  thus — The  prayers,  the  hopes,  the  hearts  of  our  ladies  go  with  you. 
We  feel  that  success  will  crown  our  banner.  We  have  no  room  for  fears' 
To  God  and  our  community  we  devote  you.11 

"The  account  says  further  that  the  Hornet's  Nest  Riflemen  were  or- 
dered to  Wilmington  to  assist  in  taking  possession  of  the  ports,  so  as 
to  anticipate  Lincoln's  action  and  to  prevent  bloodshed. 

"The  Captain  of  the  company  was  L.  S.  Williams,  father  of  Mrs. 
J.  P.  Caldwell. 

"The  "Charlotte  Grays1''  was  a  company  of  boys  under  21  years  of 
age  and  the  Captain  was  young  Edgar  Ross,  who  was  only  nineteen 
years  of  age.  The  presentation  of  the  beautiful  hand  painted  banner 
took  place  in  the  Presbyterian  church  yard,  and  the  speech  was  made  by 
Miss  Hattie  Howell,  a  beautiful  young  girl  of  sixteen  years,  who  said: 
"Capt.  Ross,  I  present  to  you  this  flag  for  the  Charlotte  Grays,  knowing 
that  whatever  happens  it  will  never,  while  a  man  of  you  lives,  be  low 
ered  in  disgrace."  Capt.  Ross  responded  thus:  "Miss  Howell,  and 
young  ladies  of  Charlotte,  we  are  honored  by  your  gift.  We  accept 
this  flag  with  thanks,  and  promise  you,  in  the  name  of  this  company, 
that  the  Charlotte  Grays  will  never  see  it  dishonored.  We  may  die  in 
.its  defense,  but  dishonored  it  shall  never  be.11 

"This  company  and  the  Hornet's  Nest  Riflemen  both  were  in  the 
First  Bethel  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  D.  H.  Hill,  afterward  Gen- 
eral,  that  fought  the  first  battle  of  the  war,  and  caused  it  to  said  that 
"North  Carolina  was  first  at  Bethel,  etc.11 


116  l<[orth  Carolina,  Women 


FIRST   MONUMENTS   AND   MEMORIAL   ASSOCIA- 
TIONS  BY  THE  WOMEN  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


"Then  tell  it,  tell  the  story 

Carve  it  in  living  stonel 
Proclaim  it  to  ages  hoary, 

The    Southland  enshrines  her  own." 


Probably  the  first  monument  erected  by  any  band  of  Southern  women 
(the  forerunner  of  many  others)  was  over  the  grave  of  Miss  Anne  Car' 
ter  Lee,  by  the  women  of  Warren  County;  just  before  the  war  closed. 
Miss  Lee,  the  daughter  of  Genral  Robrt  E.  Lee,  had  died  in  the  summer 
of  \52,  while  refugeeing  with  her  mother  at  Jones1  Sulphur  Springs,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Jones'  burial  grounds.  The  committee  was  composed 
of  the  following  women  with  Mrs.  Joseph  Speed  Jones  as  chairman: 
Mrs.  Wharton  Green,  who  made  the  first  contribution  of  two  hundred 
dollars)  Mrs.  Lucinda  Jones  and  Misses  Maria  Alston,  Heck  and  Brown- 
law. 

These  women  sacrificed  the  remnant  of  their  jewels  and  made  other 
self -denials  to  thus  honor  the  memory  of  the  daughter  of  the  South's 
Chief tian!     Not  a  man  was  asked  to  contribute  a  cent. 

Warren  county,  like  many  other  parts  of  the  State,  was  the  home 
of  loyal  Confederate  women,  among  them  being  Mrs.  Wharton  Green, 
who  (when  Col.  Green  was  away)  sold  her  diamonds  and  bought  am- 
munition and  uniforms  for  his  company.  Mrs.  Lucy  Polk  (nee  Wil- 
liams) said  to  be  the  greatest  belle  the  State  has  ever  produced,  gave 
of  her  means  and  services  to  the  Cause,  encouraging  many  a  soldier  by 
her  lovliness  of  character.  Another  was  Mrs.  Joseph  Jones,  whose  deeds 
of  kindness  to  Confederate  widows  were  innumerable. 


of  the  Confederacy  117 

Women  of  Fayetteville  Erect  First  Confederate  Monument  in 

North  Carolina. 


Early  Memorial  Association. 


"■Southern  monuments  are  love  tokens,  of  wounded  hearts;  emblems 
of  tenderness  and  grief,  of  a  mighty  sorrow  that  is  incurable." 


A  few  days  after  Sherman's  raid  through  Fayetteville,  Mrs.  Jesse 
(Anne  K.)  Kyle,  with  other  ladies,  secured  from  the  Mayor  the  back 
part  of  the  cemetery,  overlooking  Cross  Creek.  The  eighteen  soldiers 
who  had  already  died  in  the  hospitals  there  and  were  interred  in  a  lot  on 
the  creek,  were  disinterred  and  buried  with  twelve  others  in  this  lovely 
spot,  by  historic  Cross  Creek.  Foot  stones  were  placed  at  each  grave  and 
the  names  marked  on  them.  Just  at  sunset  Rev.  Joseph  C.  Huske  read 
the  words:  "I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,1''  while  the  caskets  were 
lowered  to  their  last  resting  place.  A  few  girls  of  Fayetteville  met  daily 
under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Maria  Spear  at  the  home  of  the  Misses  Mai' 
lett,  the  first  meeting  being  with  Mrs.  Jesse  Kyle,  and  from  bits  of  bright- 
ened scraps  of  their  dresses,  made  a  handsome  silk  quilt.  This  was  sold 
&t  a  dollar  a  share  and  the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  was  raised,  with 
which  a  marble  monument  was  bought.  This  shaft  was  erected  Decern- 
ber  30th,  1868,  over  thirty  graves  whose  occupants  died  in  our  hospitals. 
It  was  the  first  Confederate  Monument  in  North  Carolina  and  one  of  the 
^irst  in  the  South.  The  ladies  sent  the  quilt  to  President  Davis  and  it 
is  now  in  the  North  Carolina  room  at  Richmond.  During  the  time  of 
the  making  of  the  quilt  a  few  ladies  of  Fayetteville,  the  first  ones  being 
Mrs.  Kyle,  Misses  Mallett,  Anderson,  Campbell,  McLaurin  and  Poe, 
would  gather  quietly  in  the  early  morning  and  decorate  the  graves  of 
the  soldiers,  one  of  them  reading  a  prayer.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Memorail  Association  of  Fayetteville  (now  the  U.  D.  C.,)  which 
has  never  failed  in  all  these  years  to  perpetuate  this  loving  and  sacred 
custom.  For  many  years  every  Tenth  of  May  (our  Memorail  Day) 
the  exercises  have  been  held  around  this  hallowed  spot  by  old  Cross 


118  'Horth  Carolina  Women 

Creek,  while  they  "cover  them  over  with  beautiful  flowers  and  deck 
them  with  garlands,  these  heroes  of  ours.'" 


Memorial  Association  of  Wilmington 

On  July  20,  1866,  the  women  of  Wilmington  met  at  the  City  Hall 
where  they  made  plans  for  th  first  decoration  of  their  soldiers'  graves 
after  the  war.  At  this  meeting  Mrs.  Armand  DeRossette  who  had  been 
president  of  the  Soldiers1  Aid  Society  (organised  May,  1861)  proposed 
a  permanent  Memorial  Association.  Her  suggestion  found  an  echo  in 
the  hearts  of  all  present,  and  then  and  there  the  "Ladies  Memorial  As' 
sociation  of  Wilmington'1''  was  formed.  At  that  time  the  city  being 
under  martial  law,  word  was  sent  to  Washington  that  the  "rebel  women 
of  Wilmington  were  plotting  treason.11  The  authorities  wired  Federal 
officer  in  command  of  Wilmington  "What  are  the  rebel  women  of 
Wilmington  doing?11 

His  response  that  the  ladies  of  Wilmington  were  "quietly  at  their 
homes"  won  for  him  the  gratitude  of  the  "rebel  women." 

In  1867  the  Association  was  presented  with  a  beautiful  plot  at  Oak- 
wood  cemetery.  The  last  interment  in  this  Memorial  plot  was  that  of 
an  unknown  soldier  killed  while  the  Federal  gunboats  were  coming  up 
the  Cape  Fear  River  in  1865,  and  buried  by  the  road  side  where  he 
had  fallen.  His  body  was  reinterred  beside  these  other  heroes  by  the 
women  of  Wilmington. 

The  monument  to  their  Confederate  dead  was  erected  by  this  Mem' 
orial  Association  in  1872,  the  bronze  used  in  this  being  made  from  can' 
non  captured  during  the  war. 


"No  nation,  people,  race — in  any  way — so  many  monuments  have 
reared  as  we  the  Southrons;  every  modest  town  may  see  stones  of  rem  em' 
brance  to  the  Men  in  Gray.11 

The  history  of  the  Ladies  Memorial  Association  of  Wake  County 
is  one  of  the  most  notable  of  this  State,  and  shows  the  unfaltering  spirit 


of  the  Confederacy  119 

of  these  women.  Mrs.  Armistead  Jones,  a  daughter  of  the  gallant  Gen' 
eral  Branch,  has  written  at  our  request,  a  most  interesting  and  accurate 
history  of  this,  one  of  the  first  associations  to  be  organized  in  North 
Carolina.  From  her  records  we  find  that  soon  after  the  State  Capitol 
was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Yankees  (in  '65)  the  mayor  was  notified 
that  the  bodies  of  the  Confederate  soldiers  who  had  died  in  the  hospitals 
in  Raleigh  and  buried  there,  must  be  removed  so  that  their  dead  might 
be  buried  on  this  spot.  A  few  of  the  ladies  who  had  worked  in  the 
soldiers  hospitals  and  sewing  societies,  then  organised  themselves  into 
this  Memorial  Association,  the  following  being  the  charter  members: 
Mrs.  L.  O'B.  Branch,  (widow  of  General  Branch)  President,  Mrs.  Henry 
Miller,  Vice-President,  Miss  Sophia  Partridge,  Secretary,  Miss  Anne 
Mason  Leeds,  Mrs.  John  Devereux  and  Miss  Margaret  Iredell.  On  re 
ceiving  an  order  that  unless  the  remains  of  the  Confederates  were  re- 
moved  at  once  they  would  be  thrown  out  in  the  road,  these  women,  ac' 
companied  by  some  of  the  gentlemen  of  Raleigh,  with  shovels  and  wheel 
barrows,  tenderly  and  carefully  reinterred  them  in  another  spot,making 
with  their  own  hands  the  rough  hewn  coffins.  A  plot  of  ground  was 
given  the  ladies  by  Mr.  Henry  Mordecai,  also  one  was  offered  by  Miss 
Anne  Devereux,  stipulating  in  the  deed  that  no  one  but  a  Confederate 
soldier  could  be  buried  there.  Some  time  later  the  ladies  had  one  hun' 
dred  and  eight  bodies  of  their  soldiers  removed  from  Arlington  and  inter- 
red in  this  beautiful  Confederate  Cemetery,  where  now  are  laid  to  rest 
those  from  the  SoldierisHome  as  they  "pass  over  the  river.'"  Soon  after 
this,  a  monument  was  erected  there. 

Women  of  New  Bern  Organize  Memorial  Association 

After  suffering  so  much  during  the  war,  the  women  of  New  Bern 
were  among  the  first  to  organize  a  Memorial  Association,  the  object 
being  to  care  for  their  dead  heroes.  Mrs.  F.  C.  Roberts  (until  recently 
the  oldest  living  member  of  the  twenty-two  women  who  were  charter 
members,  with  Mrs.  B.  C.  Davis  as  president),  in  her  history  of  this 
Association  says:  "In  an  open  field  at  the  edge  of  town,  there  were 
many  graves  marked  with  wooden  strips,  which  were  already  decaying. 
Yankees  and  Confederates  had  been  buried  together.  The  U.  S.  army, 
then  in  power,  had  appropriated  a  spacious  plot  for  their  dead,  and  were 
removing  them  and  beautifying  their  resting  place.     The  enemy  gen- 


120  T^prth  Carolina  Women 

erously  offered  to  provide  coffins,  and  bury  our  dead  also.  We  de' 
clined  the  offer,  particularly,  as  their  coffins  were  regulation  length,  and 
if  one  poor  fellow  happened  to  be  a  little  too  tall,  they  jumped  on  him 
and  mashed  him  down.  We  got  permission  from  our  rulers,  (it  was  in 
reconstruction  days,  we  were  under  martial  law)  to  allow  our  graves 
to  remain  unmolested  till  we  were  ready  to  care  for  trjem.  Oh!  We 
were  so  poor  and  so  desperate  these  days;  but  our  hearts  were  filled 
with  patriotic  zeal,  that  could  remove  mountains  and  defy  all  obstacles. 
It  required  patience,  hard  work  and  rigid  self  denial,  to  raise  three 
thousand  dollars  with  which  to  build  our  monument.  This  we  ac' 
complished  in  many  efforts.  A  bazzar  brought  us  in  one  thousand 
dollars.  Tableaux  and  concerts  and  private  contributions  completed 
the  sum,  but  this  took  time." 

The  women  of  Tarboro  began  their  Memorial  Association  early  after 
the  war,  led  by  Mrs.  Henry  Dockery  and  Miss  Arabella  Clark ,  Parker, 
who  were  devout  in  their  ministrations  for  the  dead,  as  they  had  been 
to  the  living  soldires. 

Monument  at  Battle  Field  of  Averasboro 
by  Commnuity  Women. 

The  following  account  of  the  Memorial  Society  of  the  women  of  the 
Averasboro  community,  probably  one  of  the  first  in  the  South,  is  given 
by  Miss  Jessie  Slocumb  Smith,  the  President  of  the  Dunn  Chapter  U. 
D.  C. 

"Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  the  neighbors  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
battle  of  Averasboro  disinterred  these  bodies  of  our  Confederate  dead 
and  removed  them  to  an  appropriate  spot  near  the  third  line  of  breast' 
works.  This  spot  they  named  Chicora.  Very  appropriate  the  name 
seems,  as  Chicora  is  the  Indian  name  for  Carolina,  and  most  of  the  dead 
were  South  Carolinians,  whose  bodies  and  memories  have  been  carefully 
cherished  by  this  North  Carolina  community. 

"To  the  John  Smith  home  mentioned  before,  Oak  Grove  it  was  called, 
there  came  also  the  proud  honor  of  receiving  the  first,  or  one  of  the  first 
memorial  associations  organized  in  the  south.  The  ladies  of  the  neigh' 
borhood  had  during  the  year  '66  formed  an  organization  and  decorated 
the  graves  in  that  spring,  and  now  the  ex- Confederate  hospital  again 


of  the  Confederacy  121 

occupied  by  its  former  owners,  opened  its  doors  with  gracious  hospitality 
to  receive  the  ladies,  who  on  May  15th,  1867,  formally  organized  the 
Smith ville  Memorial  Association  "for  the  purpose  of  procuring  funds 
for  enclosing  the  cemetery,  and  for  erecting  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  our  Confederate  dead  who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Averasboro,  N.  C." 

"The  old  organization  was  sustained  and  the  following  officers  elected 
President,  Mrs  Julia  J.  Williams;  Vice-President,  Mrs.  R.  R.  Roberson 
Vice-President,  Miss  Bettie  Sanders;  Vice-President,  Miss  Sallie  Smith 
Vice-President,  Miss  S.  E.  Smith;  Secretary,  Miss  Louise  Smith;  Treas- 
urer, Miss  Janie  Smith;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Smith. 

"How  diligently  this  memorial  association  labored  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  as  early  as  February  15th,  1868,  a  substantial  iron  railing  was 
purchased  for  the  cemetery.  A  monument,  a  handsome  one  for  its  time, 
was  then  erected  ,and  unveiled  May  10th,  1872.  As  to  the  work  and 
sacrifice  required  to  accomplish  this,  the  following  is  copied  from  a  letter 
written  by  the  last  surviving  charter  member  of  the  association,  one  who 
has  since  gone  to  join  those  brave  comrades  of  the  sixties:  "While  this 
monument  fittingly  marks  the  resting  place  of  loved  and  honored  dead, 
fallen  heroes  of  the  Confederate  army,  yet  it  also  memoralizes  the  devo- 
tion, heroism  and  nobility  of  soul  of  their  survivors.  In  those  days  a 
dollar  loomed  large  with  importance  and  each  gift  represented  toil  and 
sacrifice.,'>  The  work  was  begun  just  after  our  country  had  been  de- 
vastated by  the  enemy,  and  was  still  garrisoned  by  Federal  troops.  Col- 
lection of  funds  was  carried  on  during  the  period  of  reconstruction. 

"Through  all  the  sixty  intervening  years  since  those  brave  men  so 
nobly  gave  their  all,  the  same  spirit  of  devotion  to  a  righteous  cause  has 
kept  alive  the  old  memorial  association.  Not  once  has  a  Tenth  of  May 
rolled  round  that  the  cemetery  has  not  been  put  in  order  and  appropriate 
exercises  held.  And  this  the  more  remarkable  as  it  was  an  isolated 
country  neighborhood. 

"On  May  10th,  1904,  the  Smithville  Memorial  Association  became 
the  Chicora  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  of  Dunn, 
N.  C.  Right  bravely  has  the  daughters  carried  on  the  work  of  the 
mother  association.  Could  the  organizers  of  the  sixties  look  down,  they 
could  proudly  say  "Well  done  my  daughters." 

"Oh  Mothers  of  the  Sixties!  yours  was  a  noble  work,  nobly  done.  The 
torch  held  so  high  and  yet  so  bravely  has  been  passed  to  our  hands.     Ours 


lil  Worth  Carolina  Women 

the  task  to  hold  it  high,  ours  the  task  to  pass  it  on.  May  we  bear  it  in 
your  same  lofty  spirit;  may  we  carry  on  the  work  with  your  same  un- 
selfish  devotion." 


A  story  of  real  heroism  lies  behind  the  unique  inscription  on  a  tomb' 
stone,  referred  to  on  page  29.  This  inscription  brings  a  vision  of  a  wo' 
man  unafraid,  who  fought  for  her  home  and  the  ham  bone  which  was 
all  she  had  left  for  the  two  convalescing  soldier  sons  who  had  returned 
from  camp  after  being  wounded.  The  young  woman  was  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Jones,  wife  of  G.  H.  Alford,  a  member  of  the  Pleasant  Grove  Baptist 
Church  of  Wake  county,  whose  son,  the  late  George  Benton  Alford, 
erected  this  monument  to  his  plucky  mother. 

Mrs.  Alford  not  only  charged  with  an  unexpected  fierceness  that  dis- 
armed Sherman's  soldiers  from  stealing  her  precious  ham  bone,  but  when 
one  of  them  threatened  to  burn  the  negro  quarters,  she  picked  up  a  stick 
of  wood  and  hit  him  over  the  head.  This  was  truly  a  soldier  without 
gun  or  sword,  who  kept  her  home  intact. 


of  the  Confederacy  12'. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  MOTHERS  OF  MANY  SONS 


"The  greatest  battle  that  was  ever  fought, 
Shall  I  tell  you  where  and  when? 
On  the  maps  of  the  world  you'll  find  it  not; 
It  was  fought  by  the  mothers  of  men." 


The  unfaltering  courage  of  the  Confederate  women  was  especially 
shown  when  a  mother  sent  forth  a  number  of  her  sons  in  their  young 
manhood  "to  do  or  die."  We  are  here  recording  only  a  comparatively 
few  names  of  such  mothers,  and  feel  that  this  is  only  the  beginning  of 
a  splendid  honor  roll  'of  our  State's  mothers  of  the  war  between  the 
States. 

The  mother  whose  name  deserves  to  stand  foremost  in  this  honor  roll 
is  Mrs.  Lemuel  (Lucy  Faucett)  Simpson,  of  Alamance  County,  who 
gave  all  her  sons,  ELEVEN,  to  the  Confederacy.  The  names  of  these 
were:  William,  Faucette,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Lemeul,  George  Washing' 
ton,  Jefferson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  James  Ruffin,  Haywood,  Henry 
Jackson,  and  Wyatt. 

Next  we  record  eleven  who  volunteered  withm  a  week,  the  mother  of 
these  being  Mrs.  Reuben  Jones  (Flora  Macdonald)  of  Scotland  county, 
who  seemed  to  inherit  the  brave  and  gallant  spirit  of  her  namesake,  the 
Scotch  heroine  of  Prince  Charlie  fame,  who  bravely  said  to  her  eleven 
boys,  "I  can  not  hold  you,  when  your  country  calls  you."  The  names  of 
these  sons  were:  Daniel,  John,  William,  Archibald,  James,  Duncan, 
Hiram,  Malcom,  Sandy,  (or  Alexander)  Dougal,  and  Samuel.  All  of 
these  are  dead  except  Samuel,  the  youngest  one. 

Next  on  our  honor  roll  we  place  the  name  of  Mrs.  Robert  Tolar  (Fan 
nie  Autry)   of  Cumberland  County,  who  gaveher  husband,  nine  sons, 
one  son-in-law  and  her  fifteen  year  old  grandson,  John  R.  Tolar.     After 
heroically  bidding  goodby  to  her  husband  and  nine  sons,  Mrs.  Tolar  de- 


124  Worth  Carolina  Women 

voted  herself  to  her  large  plantation  from  which  she  supported  many 
needy  families  of  absent  soldiers.  The  names  of  her  nine  sons  are:  Al' 
fred,  Haynes,  Joseph,  Matthew,  Thomas,  Sampson,  William,  John  and 
Robert. 


Another  mother  of  nine  sons  was  Mrs.  Robert  Thomas  (Mary  Lewis) 
of  Granville  County. 

Mrs.  Nancy  Stinson  of  Chatham  county,  gave  nine  sons  and  enough 
relations  to  the  Confederate  cause  to  form  a  company.  She  gave  her 
children,  her  love,  her  time,  and  her  work  and  she  was  known  far  and 
-wide  as  Mother  Stinson.  She  lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  98,  being  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Winnie  Davis  Chapter  U.  D.  C.  at  Pittsboro. 

A  mother  of  nine  sons  in  the  service  of  the  Confederacy  was  Mrs. 
James  (Sarah  Goodman)  Deaton,  of  Iredell  county.  These  were  Caleb, 
who  lost  his  mind  from  brutal  prison  treatment,  Thomas,  Aaron,  both 
killed  in  battle,  John,  Samuel,  Edward,  Cornelius,  George,  and  Pinckney. 

We  find  also  the  following  names  of  mothers  of  eight  sons  in  the 
,Confederacy. 

Mrs.  Farquahard  Smith  of  Averasboro  (then  Cumberland,  now  Har' 
nett  county),  gave  her  eight  sons  to  the  Confederate  service.  One  son, 
Alex,  was  in  the  home  guard,  Curtis  and  Farquhard  were  in  the  medical 
department,  James,  Douglas  and  Henry  were  in  the  cavalry  and  Edward 
was  in  the  infantry.  The  youngest,  Jesse  Slocumb,  a  lad  of  sixteen,  was 
a  courier  boy  on  the  staff  of  General  Hardee  in  the  battle  of  Bentonville, 
N.  C.  Mrs.  Smith  herself  was  the  granddaughter  of  Colonel  Ezekiel 
Smith  and  his  wife  Mary  Slocumb,  the  heroine  of  Moore's  Creek  battle. 
So  this  Confederate  mother  inherited  her  patriotism. 

The  widow  Stephens  of  Buncombe  county,  gave  her  all — her  eight 
stalwart  sons — to  the  Confederacy. 

The  name  of  Mrs.  Stephens  of  Buncombe  county,  should  hold  a  high 
place  on  the  honor  roll.     She  gave  her  eight  sons,  all  farmers,  to  fight 


of  the  Confederacy  125 

for  their  country,  running  the  farm  herself  and  fighting  a  real  fight  on 
her  mountain  farm.  All  of  these  eight  boys  returned  to  her,  and  forty 
three  years  after  their  soldier  life,  all  the  eight  were  living — a  remarkable 
record.  Joining  the  widow  Stephen's  farm  were  the  Blacks,  which  family 
also  gave  eight  members  to  the  Confederacy,  seven  sons  and  the  father. 
Sixteen  soldiers  from  two  families. 


The  widow  Polly  Ray  of  the  Longstreet  community,  Cumberland 
county,  gave  her  seven  sons,  from  the  youth  of  sixteen  to  the  son  of 
thirty.  None  had  greater  anguish  of  heart  than  this  poor  widow,  who 
was  left,  when  the  war  ended  with  only  her  young  daughter,  as  all  of 
her  seven  sons  lost  their  lives  on  the  battle  fields  of  the  Confederacy. 
In  this  whole  neighboorhood  of  Longstreet  (one  of  the  earliest  Scotch 
settlements  of  the  State)  every  young  man  volunteered  for  service  at 
the  first  of  the  war,  and  so  many  were  killed  that  it  is  said  that  there 
was  not  a  birth  in  that  community  for  many  years. 


Mrs.  Olive  Tatum,  of  Bladen  county,  gave  seven  sons  to  the  Confed- 
eracy, five  of  these  gave  up  their  lives  in  the  service — she  was  truly  a 
"Mother  of  the  Gracchi."  The  names  of  these  were:  Marshal,  Rich' 
ard,  Jonathan,  Simeon,  Gray,  Hanson,  and  Alexander.  Only  two  of 
these  returned. 

Those  who  gave  seven  sons  to  the  service  are  Mrs.  Mason  Lee  Wig- 
gins (Elizabeth  Slade)  of  Woodlawn,  Halifax  county,  their  names  being: 
William,  Blake,  John,  Alfred,  Thomas,  Octavius,  Eugene,  the  latter 
entering  the  army  at  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Another  mother  of  seven  sons  was  Mrs.  Black  cf  Buncombe  county, 
who  gave  not  only  her  sons,  but  her  husband  to  the  Confederate  service. 

Mrs.  Thomas  (Rachael  Jeffries)  Moore,  of  Alamance  county,  gave 
her  seven  sons,  they  were:  Harrison,  Solomon,  Evans,  Isaac,  Jefferson, 
William,  and  Haywood. 

Old  Mrs.  Sally  Michels  of  Burke  county,  gave  seven  sons  to  the  war 
and  the  maker  of  the  famous  clay  pipes  she  kept  many  a  soldier  happy 
with  her  gifts  which  "went  up  in  smoke."  When  Col.  Wm.  Pearson, 
of  Morganton,  after  his  return  from  Italy,  told  her  that  King  Victor  had 
pronounced  her  clay  the  best  he'd  ever  smoked,  "Aunt  Sally"  with  a  toss 


126  Worth  Carolina  Women 

of  her  head  said,  "That's  nothing,  Zeb  Vance  said  that  it  was  the  best 
■he  ever  tried."     "Aunt  Sally"  showed  her  State  pride. 

Mrs.  David  Stevenson,  of  Johnston  county,  gave  seven  sons  and  not 
one  of  them  received  a  scratch. 

Mrs.  Jane  Cooper  Stratford,  of  Guilford  county,  gave  seven  sons  for 
the  army. 

Mrs.  Neal  McLean,  of  Laurinburg,  was  another  mother  of  seven  sons 
— three  being  killed  in  battle. 


Mrs.  Alvi  Robbins,  who  was  Miss  Mary  Brown,  of  Randolph  County, 
gave  six  sons  to  the  war.  These  were,  Julius  Alexander,  Franklin  Childs, 
James  LaFayette,  Madison  Columbus,  Roswell  Washington,  and  Wib 
liam  McKindy.  When  the  body  of  her  fourth  son  was  brought  home 
from  the  battle  field,  the  mother  of  these  six  soldiers  leaned  over  the 
casket  with  a  face  like  marble,  and  said,  "Though  He  slay  me  yet  will 
I  trust  in  firm.1'' 

Mrs.  Thomas  Morgan  of  Granville  county,  gave  six  sons  to  the  Con' 
federacy  and  all  six  were  \illed  in  service.  Truly  her  name  should  be 
recorded  in  letters  of  gold. 

There  were  six  sons  of  Mrs.  Henry  G.  (Elisabeth  Arrington)  Wib 
Hams  of  Granville  county  who  were  in  the  service.  They  were:  Col. 
Solomon  (killed  in  action),  Samuel,  A.  H.  A.,  Thomas,  (killed)  John 
and  William  (died  in  service) . 

Mrs.  Armand  DeRossette  (Eliza  Lord),  that  splendid  war  mother  of 
Wilmington,  gave  six  sons,  John,  William,  Louis,  Armand,  Thomas  and 
Edward,  and  three  sons-in-law  to  her  Southland. 

Mrs.  Able  Bowden,  of  Franklin  county,  sent  six  sons  to  the  war,  five 
of  these  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Fort  Fisher. 

Mrs.  Robert  (Margaret  Robertson)  Burwell,  of  Charlotte,  gave  six 
sons  who  were,  John  Bott,  Armistead,  William  Robertson,  Dandride 
Spottswood,  Robert  Turnbull,  and  James  Webb.  Robert  and  James 
lost  their  lives,  the  latter  in  his  teens. 

Mrs.  Thomas  Chandler,  of  Granville  county,  had  six  sons  in  the  great 
struggle. 

Six  sons  of  Mrs.  Richard  Stallings,  of  Franklin  county,  were  in  the 
Confederate  army,  only  one  of  them  returning  to  her. 


of  the  Confederacy  127 

Mrs.  Mary  Morrow  Heath  (whose  plantation  joined  the  birth  place 
of  Andrew  Jackson  in  Union  county)  gave  six  sons  to  the  service.  This 
splendid  mother  of  the  Confederacy  lived  to  be  ninety' four  and  these 
sons  lived  to  be  leaders  in  North  Carolina's  prominent  business  ac' 
tivities. 

Mrs.  William  White  (Sarah  Wilson)  of  Charlotte,  gave  six  splendid 
sons  to  the  Confederate  army. 

Mrs.  Samuel  Mitcherson,  of  Wake  county,  was  another  mother  of 
six  sons  in  the  Confederacy. 

In  the  roll  of  mothers  who  gave  six  sons  to  the  Confederacy  is  Mrs. 
Henry  (Maria  Edmundson)  Best,  whose  sons  were  Robert,  Henry,  Wil- 
liam  E.,  T.  H,  B.  J.,  and  R.  E. 

Mrs.  Alex  Dixon,  of  Orange  county,  gave  her  six  sons. 

Mrs.  Lewis  Smith  was  the  mother  of  six  sons. 

Mrs.  Hudlah  Padrick,  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Garman,  of  Onslow  county, 
each  gave  six  sons  to  the  Confederacy. 

Mrs.  Jonathan  M.  Stone,  (Rebecca  Jane)  gave  six  sons  for  the  Con- 
federacy,  from  Nash  county,  they  were:  Albert,  Silas,  Rufus,  Jackson, 
Atlas,  and  Marion. 

Among  the  mothers  of  six  sons  in  the  war  was  Mrs.  Daniel  Seagle, 
of  Lincoln  county.  Their  names  form  an  array  of  patriotic  Americans, 
being:  Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Monroe,  Martin  Van  Bueran,  Polk  Dab 
las,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Nathaniel  Macon,  and  Andrew  Jackson. 

Mrs.  John  Wilfong,  of  Newton,  was  another  mother  of  six  sons  in 
the  war.  These  were:  Milton,  Henry,  Pinkney,  John,  Sidney,  and 
Charles.  Besides  these  she  gave  (through  her  daughter)  her  son-in-law, 
Capt.  M.  L.  McCorkle. 


In  the  list  of  mothers  who  gave  five  sons  to  the  service  is  Mrs.  Thomas 
Carlton,  of  Burke  county,  every  one  of  them  being  killed.  When  the 
news  finally  came  that  her  blue  eyed,  bright  haired,  baby  boy,  a  lad 
just  sixteen,  had  fallen,  she  called  her  son-in-law  who  had  been  discharged 
by  the  army  surgeon  as  unfit  for  duty,  and  said  while  trembling  with 
emotion:  "Get  your  knapsack,  William,  the  ranks  must  be  filled." 
Such  were  the  Spartan  Mothers  of  the  Confederacy 
It  fell  to  Mrs.  Morrison,  of  Davidson  College,   (a  sister  of  the  ex- 


728  7<[orih  Carolina  "Women 

Governor  Graham)  to  give  not  only  her  own  five  sons  to  the  Confed- 
eracy, but  four  most  distinguished  sons-in-law  in  the  war.  The  latter 
were:  Stonewall  Jackson,  General  D.  H.  Hill,  General  Barringer,  and 
.Major  Avery,  truly  an  Honor  Roll  of  which  the  State  was  proud. 

Mrs.  Isaac  Avery,  of  Morganton,  an  untiring  worker  for  the  Cause, 
gave  five  sons  to  the  war,  two  of  them  never  returning. 

Mrs.  Amos  (Caroline  Louisa  Tomlinson)  Weaver,  of  Iredell  county, 
had  five  sons  in  the  war,  they  were:  George  Washington,  Henry  Clay, 
Franklin  Harrison,  Romulus  LaFayette,  and  Preston  DeKalb. 

Mrs.  Allison  Lee  Watson,  born  Elizabeth  Yarborough,  of  Lexington, 
had  five  sons  serving  in  the  Confederate  army,  four  of  these  having  made 
the  supreme  sacrifice,  the  last  one  who  enlisted  at  sixteen  being  left  to 
her.  The  names  of  these  sons  are:  Albert,  James,  Archibald,  Charles, 
and  Haywood. 

Mrs.  William  Joyner,  of  Franklin  county,  was  the  mother  of  five 
Confederate  soldiers  (two  of  them  being  twins),  besides  giving  up  her 
husband.     Four  of  her  boys  were  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

Among  the  mothers  who  gave  five  sons  was  Mrs.  Sarah  Jones  Gill, 
of  Wilson.  These  were:  Frank,  Thomas,  Benjamin,  John,  James,  two 
of  them  never  returned. 

Mrs.  Sallie  Lancaster  Hargrove,  of  Moore  county,  gave  five  sons  to 
the  Cause  of  the  South. 

Mrs.  Sophia  Stedman  Rutherfordton,  (a  widow)  sent  five  sons  to 
the  war,  Townsend,  John,  William,  Josh,  and  Joe. 

Mrs.  Zephaniah  (Lucretia)  Askew,  of  Hertford  county,  gave  her 
five  sons,  Levi,  Wilbur,  Richard,  Zephaniah,  and  Edward. 

Mrs.  Godwin  Moore,  of  Hertford  county,  gave  John,  Julian,  Thomas, 
James,  and  William. 

Mrs.  Mary  Eliza  Wooten,  of  Pitt  county,  sent  five  sons  to  the  war: 
John,  Edward,  Lewis,  Allen,  Oscar. 

Mrs.  David  Ingle,  of  Alamance  county,  was  another  mother  who 
gave  five  sons,  they  were,  Sidney,  Rufus,  Albert,  Mabin,  and  Thaddeus. 

Mrs.  Samuel  T.  Allston,  of  Warren  county,  had  five  sons,  the  young' 
est  of  whom,  Philip,  is  now  commander  of  the  first  brigade  of  the  N.  C 
Division  of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hoke  Rowe,  of  Cabarrus  county,  had  five  sons  in  the 
war,  and  Mrs.  Katherine  Fry  Smyre,  of  the  same  county,  also  had  five 


of  the  Confederacy  129 

sons  in  service.  These  two  women  lived  on  and  owned  large  adjoining 
farms,  from  which  they  sent  large  supplies  to  the  army. 

Mrs.  Angus  McCatten,  of  Moore  county,  had  five  sons  to  volunteer 
for  the  service,  all  of  them  returning  alive. 

Mrs.  Edna  Barnes,  of  Johnston  county,  gave  five  sons. 

Mrs.  Ashley  Home,  of  Johnston  county,  was  the  mother  of  five  sons 
in  the  service  of  the  Southland.     Three  of  them  being  killed  in  the  war. 

Mrs.  Funifold  (Kate  Harrison)  McDanial,  of  Trenton,  had  five  sons 
iii  the  cavalry,  all  of  these  taking  their  horses  with  them  from  their  plan' 
tation. 


Among  the  mothers  of  four  sons  in  the  Confederacy  was  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam R.  (Louisa  Hogan)  Holt,  of  Lexington,  all  of  whom  made  the  "su- 
preme sacrifice"  in  the  war. 

Mrs.  John  McRae  (Mary  Shackleford)  of  Fayetteville,  gave  four  sons 
to  the  service.  They  were:  James,  Thomas,  Robert,  John,  and  her  step- 
son Duncan,  making  five  McRaes  from  one  family. 

Mrs.  Oran  Allston  Palmer,  of  Chatham  county,  gave  her  four  sons 
and  all  four  were  \illed  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

Mrs.  John  Buxton  Williams,  of  Warren  county,  gave  four  sons  to 
the  Confederacy:  James,  Harry,  John,  and  Solomon.  Her  home,  "Bux* 
ton  Place,"  was  a  home  for  all  the  soldiers  passing  through  Warren  coun- 
ty, and  this  warm-hearted  woman  filled  their  knapsacks  as  they  depart- 
ed with  a  cherry  goodbye. 

Mrs.  Amos  Weaver,  of  Lenon,  gave  up  four  sons,  they  were:  Frank- 
lin, George  Washington,  Preston,  and  Rufus. 

Mrs.  Samuel  Bennett  (Jane  Little),  of  Anson  county,  gave  her  four 
sons:  John,  Thomas,  William,  and  Frank. 

Mrs.  William  Pridgen,  (Patsy  Lindsay)  of  Nash  county,  gave  Alex- 
ander, Drewry,  Josiah,  and  Henry  to  the  cause. 

Mrs.  Fannie  Browning  Smith,  of  Union  Ridge,  sent  four  sons,  the 
last  a  mere  boy,  being  brought  back  to  her  a  corpse,  was  Robert  Lawson 
Smith. 

Mrs.  Lauchlan  Bethune  and  Mrs.  Flora  Baker,  of  Moore  county,  each 
gave  four  sons. 

Mrs.  Frederick  Battle  (Temple  Perry),  of  Franklin  and  Nash  coun- 
ties, gave  four  sons  to  the  cause. 


130  7<[orih  Carolina  Women 

Mrs.  (Rebecca  Moore)  Allen,  wife  of  James  J.  Allen,  gave  four  sons 
to  the  Confederacy:  Andrew,  Thomas,  James,  William. 

Mrs.  May  Ruffin  and  Mrs.  Abia  Person,  of  Franklin  county,  eacfi 
gave  four  sons  to  the  South. 

Mrs.  Duncan  McGougan  (Annie  White)  of  Robeson  county,  gave 
four  sons,  Daniel,  James,  Alexander,  and  Reuben. 


North  Carolina's  role  of  mothers  of  three  sons  in  the  Confederacy 
would  fill  a  volume,  but  the  few  of  such  names  that  have  been  secured 
deserve  to  be  recorded. 

The  only  record  we  have  of  a  mother  who  gave  TRIPLETS  to  the 
Confederate  army  from  North  Carolina  is  that  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Smith 
Gibbs,  of  Wilkes  county.  The  names  of  these  triplets  were :  •  William, 
Thomas  and  Robert. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Williams  Chance,  wife  of  Tillman  F.  Chance,  of  Rock' 
ingham  county,  had  three  sons  in  the  war:  Andrew  Jackson,  William 
Anderson,  Tillman  Franklin,  Jr.  The  latter  died  in  camp  in  October 
'62,  leaving  a  little  daughter  whom  he  had  never  seen,  this  little  girl  now 
being  Mrs.  J.  E.  Heinserling,  of  Statesville,  historian  of  the  chapter  there. 

Mrs.  Mary  (Laura  King)  Davidson,  of  Mecklenburg  county,  also 
contributed  three  sons  to  the  Southern  Cause,  they  were:  John,  Robert, 
and  Richard. 

Mrs.  Celia  D.  Bason,  of  Alamance  county,  gave  three  sons  to  Lee's 
army,  they  were:  James,  George  and  William. 

Mrs.  Charles  Manly,  the  wife  of  Ex-Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
gave  three  sons  and  three  sons-in-law.  Two  of  whom  were  killed  in 
battle. 

Mrs.  Tempe  Boddie  Yancey,  of  Warren  county,  gave  her  sons  George, 
Henry  and  John. 

Mrs.  Lucinda  Walker,  of  Union  Ridge,  sent  to  war  John,  William, 
and  Joshua. 

Mrs.  Andrew  Grier,  (born  Margaret,  daughter  of  General  Paul  Bar- 
ringer)  of  Mecklenburg  county,  gave  three  sons,  they  were:  Samuel, 
William  and  Laban,  besides  her  stepson  Thomas. 

Mrs.  Delany  Andrews,  of  Asheboro,  sent  Allen,  Thomas  and  Hese- 
kiah. 


of  the  Confederacy  131 

Mrs.  Harriet  Phillips  gave  her  three  sons,  Joseph,  James,  and  Fred' 
erick,  of  Tarboro. 

Mrs.  Martha  Thorne  Nichols,  of  Halifax  county,  gave  three  sons  to 
the  Confederacy. 

Mrs.  Edward  McKethan,  of  Fayetteville,  had  three  sons  in  the  war, 
Hector,  Augustus,  and  Edward. 

Mrs.  John  Moore,  of  Pitt  county,  sent  her  three  sons  to  the  war: 
John,  Albert  and  William. 

Mrs.  Jacob  (Elizabeth)  Sharpe,  of  Hertford  county,  gave  all  her  sons, 
Thomas,  William,  and  Henry  Clay. 

Mrs.  Henry  A.  London  (Sallie  Lord),  of  Wilmington  and  Pittsboro, 
gave  her  three  boys,  William  Lord,  Rufus  Marsden,  and  Henry  Armand. 

The  following  women  of  Hertford  county  each  gave  three  sons:  Mrs. 
Sophia  Taylor  gave  John,  Dorsey  and  LaFayette. 

Mrs.  Lewis  Pruden,  had  Charles,  Henry  and  John  in  the  war. 

Mrs.  Harriett  Deanes  gave  her  three,  James,  John  and  Jefferson. 

Mrs.  Carian  Morris  gave  her  sons,  William,  Calvin,  Alpheus. 

Mrs.  William   (Emily)   Joyner,  of  Pitt  county,gave  her  three  sons,  > 
Robert,  John  and  Edmund.     The  latter  is  the  beloved  Chaplain  of  the 
North  Carolina  Division  of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans. 

Mrs.  Lettie  Jones  Long,  of  Alamance  county,  gave  her  three  sons  to 
the  Confederacy,  and  all  were  \illed.  They  were,  Jacob,  Thomas  and 
Robert.  The  fourth  and  youngest  son  ran  away  and  reached  the  army 
as  the  surrender  took  place. 

The  story  of  how  this  widowed  mother  made  a  very  dangerous  jour' 
tiey  to  Virginia  to  find  and  bring  back  her  wounded  boy,  going  into  the 
battlefield  midst  shot  and  shell,  is  one  of  real  courage.  The  body 
of  another  son  was  brought  back  to  this  mother,  two  months  after  he]  had 
been  \illed.  With  devotion  seldom  equalled,  Mrs.  Long  herself  bathed 
and  dressed  the  pitiful  form  of  her  loved  one,  saying  that  her  boy  should 
be  cared  for  decently  and  tenderly,  by  his  mother,  Such  as  this  was  the 
spirit  of  the  Confederate  mothers. 


132  North  Carolina  "Women 

Confederate  Mother  Now  Living 

North  Carolina  has  the  distinction  of  having  a  CONFEDERATE 
MOTHER  NOW  LIVING,  who  is  nearing  her  one  hundred 
and  third  birthday.  This  centenarian  is  Mrs.  Julia  Anne  Pridgen,  a 
resident  of  Pender  county,  who  lives  near  the  site  of  the  famous  revo' 
lutionary  battle  of  Moore's  Creek  Bridge.  Mrs.  Pridgen  was  the 
mother  of  a  Confederate  soldier,  M.  B.  Pridgen,  now  deceased,  while 
her  second  son  had  volunteered  to  join  the  army  when  the  war  ended, 
he  being  too  young  before  this.  The  reminiscences  of  this  MOTHER 
OF  THE  CONFEDERACY  are  worthy  of  a  volume  by  itself,  as  she 
vividly  recalls  not  only  the  events  of  the  war  between  the  States  but 
those  of  the  Mexican  outbreak.  From  her  mental  and  physical  strength 
it  would  not  be  surprising  if  Mrs  Pridgen  should  not  add  several  years 
to  the  one  hundred  and  three  she  has  already  lived. 

All  honor  to  this  living  MOTHER  OF  A  CONFEDERATE  SOL- 
DIER! 


of  the  Confederacy  133 


WELCOME  HOME,  HEROES  IN  GRAY! 


"I'm  glad  I  an  in  Dixie,  hooray,  hooray. 
In  Dixie's  land  I'll  ta\e  my  stan,' 
To  lib  and  die  in  Dixie." 


As  the  men  in  gray,  tattered,  footsore,  dispirited,  returned  to  their 
desolate  homes,  their  women  quieted  them  with  undimmed  courage  and 
sweet  resolution,  arousing  them  to  manly  endeavor.  Hundreds  of  these 
deilcate  women,  bred  in  affluence,  were  bravely  working  with  thir  hands 
for  their  daily  bread.  Many  in  old  age,  alone  in  the  world,  were  bereft 
of  all  their  possessions. 

These  women  had  a  difficult  task  to  perform,  and  they  nobly  per' 
formed  it!  When  the  end  came,  instead  of  sitting  down  in  despair, 
these  women  of  the  Confederacy  led  the  way  in  building  up  the  homes 
and  shattered  fortunes  of  the  South. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Confederacy  never  would  have  lasted  for 
four  years  without  the  loyal  enthusiasm  of  its  women  and  their  loving 
ministrations. 

Under  the  inspiration  and  energy  of  these  Confederate  women,  homes 
again  became  homes,  fields  blossomed,  order  and  system  at  last  (reigned 
after  those  terrible  reconstruction  days. 

The  words  of  our  beloved  chief tian,  Robert  E.  Lee,  tell  how  our 
Southland  rose,  rebuilt  by  determined  and  courageous  men  and  women 
of  the  Confederacy. 

"We  went  home  but  our  work  was  not  completed,  and  it  looked  for 
awhile  like  the  fortunate  part  of  the  Confederate  army  had  "crossed 
the  river,"  but  with  the  same  grit  in  peace  that  our  boys  had  shown  in 
war,  they  did  not  sit  down  and  whine  but  went  to  work  and  thank  God, 
through  the  spirit  of  their  splendid  example,  our  beloved  Southland 
is  more  and  more  coming  into  her  own  as  the  days  go  by,  and  is  already 
the  choice  part  of  the  great  and  glorious  Union." 


134  Worth  Carolina  Women 

"For  out  of  the  gloom  future  brightness  is  born,  as  after  the  night 
comes  the  sunrise  of  morn." 

In  the  face  of  overwhelming  duties  these  noble  women  began  the 
custom  of  annually  decorating  the  graves  of  their  soldier  dead,  thus 
bringing  into  existence  the  Southern  Memorial  Association.  They  com' 
smemorated  the  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier  in  memorials  through 
many  a  self' denial,  as  money  was  very  scarce.  They  struggled  for  a  home 
and  pensions  for  the  disabled  soldiers  and  organised  themselves  and  their 
descendents  into  a  body  of  women,  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Con' 
federacy,  to  preserve  the  history  of  their  Confederacy.  No,  what  the 
North  Carolina  women  of  the  sixties  have  done  can  never  be  forgotten 
by  a  State  that  loves  to  honor  loyalty  and  self  sacrifice. 

Most  of  these  heroic  women  have  passed  into  the  Beyond,  but  may 
their  memories  remain  with  us.  They  were  modest,  unassuring  .women, 
with  no  thought  of  what  the  world  or  coming  generations  would  place 
upon  the  deeds  of  heroism  and  self 'sacrifice. 

"To  us  they  live,  an  inspiration  and  a  glory; 
The  flight  of  years  can  bring  no  rust, 
To  dim  their  fame  in  song  and  story." 

It  was  left  to  that  knightly  soldier,  Col.  Ashley  Home  of  Clayton, 
to  erect,  in  1914,  the  only  monument  in  North  Carolina  to  the  women 
of  the  Confederacy.  This  beautiful  memorial  stands  in  the  Capitol 
grounds  at  Raleigh  as  a  faithful  witness  to  the  sacrifice,  heriosm,  and 
loyalty  of  our  women  of  the  sixties.  This  "hero  in  times  of  war  and 
patriot  in  times  of  peace,"  in  giving  this  monument  to  the  State  said: 
"The  silent  woman  of  the  Memorial  will  typify  the  uncomplaining  wo' 
man  of  the  Confederacy.1 ' 

In  accepting  this  memorial  for  the  State,  Governor  Locke  Craig  said, 
"This  statue  is  epic.  Its  theme  is  heroism  and  devotion;  the  inheritance 
of  the  children  of  the  South.  The  bronze  group  represents  the  Grand' 
mother,  unrolling  the  eager  youth,  grasping  the  sword  of  his  father,  the 
scroll  of  the  father's  deeds.  The  statue  is  illumined  with  unfolding 
meaning. 

"Women  of  the  Confederacy,  "Henceforth  all  generations  shall  call 
you  blessed/ ' 


of  Horth  Carolina  135 

The  following  just  tribute  was  paid  the  women  of  the  Confederacy 
of  North  Carolina  and  is  preserved  among  the  State  Laws  of  1862-163. 
"This  General  Assembly  hereby  records  its  heartfelt  gratitude  to  the 
noble  women  of  this  State,  who  have  done  so  much  to  alleviate  the  suf- 
fering  of  our  soldiers  and  to  sustain  our  righteous  cause,  and  the  Gov 
'  ernor  may,  if  he  thinks  expedient,  record  the  distinguished  names  on 
the  State's  Roll  of  Honor." 

On  December  9,  1863,  in  a  Resolution  by  the  General  Assembly  the 
following  is  incorporated: 

"Equal  to  our  appreciation  of  the  valor  and  patriotism  of  our  troops 
in  the  field  is  our  admiration  of  the  ;self 'sacrificing  and  noble  devotion 
of  the  women  of  our  country  in  encouraging  the  soldiers  on  the  way  to 
the  field  of  duty  and  of  danger;  in  their  untiring  efforts  to  supply  them 
with  every  comfort  which  their  ingenuity  can  invent,  and  their  indefa- 
tigable ministrations  at  the  couch  of  the  suffering,  whether  it  be  by  dis- 
ease  or  by  wounds  received  in  the  defense  of  their  country.  This  de- 
votion to  the  cause  of  independence  for  which  we  are  struggling  is  alike 
sustaining  to  the  soldier  on  duty  and  the  patriot  at  home  and  inspire  all 
with  that  energy  which  enables  us  to  work  with  confidence  to  its  suc- 
cessful termination  and  in  a  Confederate  Government  established  upon 
an  equitable  basis  and  entitled  to  the  highest  possible  position  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth." 

The  record  of  North  Carolina's  women  of  the  sixties  can  only  be 
compared  with  that  of  her  '"men  in  gray." 

In  her  devotion  to  her  country,  in  duty  and  bravery  and  all  that  goes 
to  make  up  a  splendid  woman,  the  world  has  no  superior  example  than 
the  Woman  of  the  Confederacy. 

"'Who  bade  them  go,  with  smiling  tears, 
Who  scorned  the  renegrade, 
And  silencing  their  trembling  fears, 
"Watched,  cheered,  and  prayed. 

""Who  nursed  their  wounds  with  tender  care, 
"Who  lifted  them  from  dar\  despair — 
And  counted  not  the  cost? 
The  women  of  the  South. 


136  7<iorih  Carolina  Women 


NORTH  CAROLINA  VERSES  OF  THE  SIXTIES 

"Poetes  iare  all  who  love,  who  feel  great  truths  and  tell  them." 

Answer  to  The  Conquered  Banner 

(By  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Tillinghast,  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  written  in  186?) 

"Touch  it  not,  unfold  it  never,  let  it  droop  there,  furled  forever, 
For  its  people's  hopes  are  dead."  {Father  Ryan's  Conquered  Banner) 

T^o,  fold  it  not  away  forever, 
Keep  it  in  hearts  depth  ever, 
Love  it,  \eep  it  for  its  past; 
Ta\e  it  out  some  time  and  wave  it, 
Thin\  of  those  who  died  to  save  it, 
Glory  in  the  blood  we  gave  it, 
Bind  it  with  our  heart  strings  fast. 

Ta\e  it  out  sometime  and  show  it, 
Let  your  children  early  \now  it, 
Know  its  glory — not  its  shame. 
Teach  them  early  to  adore  it, 
Scorn  forever  those  who  tore  it, 
Tell  them  how  it  won  a  name. 

'Tis  a  witness  how  secession 
Threw  the  glove  down  to  oppression 
Scorning  at  last,  concession, 
Giving  life  blood  for  the  right. 
Oh,  we  cannot,  cannot  lose  it, 
(Oh  how  could  the  world  refuse  it?) 
Can  we  let  the  foe  abuse  it 
Or  its  history  bright? 


of  the  Confederacy  137 

In  future  years  some  hand  may  ta\e  it 
From  its  resting  place  and  sha\e  it 
O'er  the  young  and  brave, 
And  the  old  spirit  still  undaunted 
In  their  young  hearts  by  God  implanted 
Will  triumph  o'er  foes  who  vaunted 
And  freedom  to  the  South  be  granted, 
Though  there's  now  no  one  to  save  it. 

Though  folded  now  away  so  sadly 
In  future  years  we'll  wave  it  gladly, 
In  prosperous  path  we'll  tread. 
And  thousands,  yet  unborn,  shall  hail  it, 
Tens  of  thousands  never  fail  it, 
Forgotten  be  the  men  who  wail  it — 
Hated  those  who  now  can  trail  it — 
Oh,  can  our  hopes  be  dead? 


Reconstruction 

(By  Mrs.  Fannie  Downing,  written  in  the  Sixties) 

To  die  for  Dixiel     Oh,  how  blest 
Are  those  who  early  went  to  rest, 
T'ior  \new  the  futures' s  awful  store, 
But  deemed  the  cause  they  fought  for  sure 
As  heaven  itself;  and  so  laid  down 
The  cross  of  earth  for  glory's  crown, 
And  nobly  died  for  Dixie. 

To  live  for  Dixiel     Harder  parti 
To  stay  the  hand,  to  still  the  heart, 
To  seal  the  lips,  enshroud  the  past, 
To  have  no  future — all  o'ercast; 
To  \nit  life's  bro\en  threads  again, 
And  \eep  her  mem'ry  pure  from  strain, 
This  is  to  live  for  Dixie. 


138  Horth  Carolina  Women 


Carolina's  Dead 


By  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Tillinghast 
(Written  for  the  unveiling  of  the  Cumberland  County  Confederate  Monument, 

May  10th,  1902) 


Uncoffined  on  the  battlefield, 
Those  dreamless  ones  are  sleeping, 
Unconscious  of  the  memories 
Left  in  hearts  that  still  are  weeping — 
Weeping  for  those  that  never  came — 
Brothers,  and  friends,  and  lovers, 
Those  gallant  ones  whose  precious  forms 
Virginias  soil  now  covers. 

Then  raise  your  monumental  stone 
To  tell  the  grand  old  story 
How  splendidly  her  soldier  hoys 
Fought  for  the  old  State's  glory! 
And  let  the  little  children  \now 
The  flag  their  fathers  died  for, 
Teach  them  the  cause  they  loved  in  vain, 
The  principals  they  tried  for. 

For  is  not  true,  tried,  patriotic  love 
A  corner  stone  worth  trying, 
O'er  which  to  build  our  country  up? 
Then  not  in  vain  their  dying. 
And  when  this  day  comes  yearly  round 
Get  out  the  flag  and  wave  it 
Above  the  record  of  their  deeds 
Of  those  who  died  to  save  it. 


of  the  Confederacy  139 

The  Woman  of  the  Confederacy 


(By  Henry  Jerome  Stockard,  late  Poet  Laureat  of  North  Carolina,  written  for 
unveiling   of  Confederate  Woman's  Monument  in   1914) 


She  calmly  brought  her  sabre  bright, 

Tempered  with  death; 
And,  girding  him,  her  all,  aright, 
And  spo\e  with  eyes  of  \indling  light 

More  than  tongue  uttereth. 

And  then  she  waved  farewell  at  last, 

'With  grief  struc\  dumb, 
As  bannered  squadrons  hurried  past, 
And  bugles  with  imperious  blast 

Stammered  delirium. 

The  canvas  can  not  hold  her  grace; 

Its  colors  warm 
The  damps  of  centuries  erase; 
Yet  o'er  the  scathing  years  her  face 

'Will  live  beyond  all  harm. 

7<[or  yet  may  story  guard  the  trust, 

T^or  song  divine; 
They,  li\e  their  builders,  turn  to  dust — 
Beyond  corrupting  moth  and  rust 

Stands,  veiled  with  light,  her  shrine. 

And  love  will  \eep  it,  love  alone, 

Safe  from  decay — 
Love  wherewith  God  Himself  is  one — 
When  time's  rule  shall  be  overthrown, 

And  earth  shall  pass  away. 

~h[or  bronze  nor  stone  shall  bear  her  name 

Through  time  tO'be: 
These  may  be  touched  by  frost  or  flame 
And  sin\  on  ruin,  while  her  fame 

Is  for  eternity. 


140  Tiorth  Carolina  Women 


Gloria  Victis 


By  Mrs.  Francis  F.  Tiernan   ("Christian  Reid").     Written  at  the  unveiling  of 

the  monument  at  Salisbury  in  memory  of  the  Confederate  dead,  representing  the 

group  of  a  dying  Confederate  soldier  supported  and  crowned  by  fame. 

T^o  warrior  of  the  golden  past,  of  glorious  antique  days, 

Crowned  with  the  victor  wreath  of  Greece,  or  Rome's  immortal  hays, 

T^o  \night  who  laid  his  lance  in  rest  with  mighty  Charlemagne, 
Or  bore  the  brave  crusader's  cross  in  great  St.  Louis'  train. 

But  the  heir  of  all  these  heroes  of  the  great  days  of  old, 

Last  of  the  long  and  gallant  line  of  \nightly  hearts  of  gold, 

K)ne  who  has  written  with  his  sword  his  name  upon  ike  page 
Of  glory's  deathless  muster'roll,  gathered  from  every  age. 

A  soldier  of  the  Southern  Cross,  a  hero  of  the  cause 

Of  the  sacred  right  of  Sovereign  States,  of  chartered  claims  and  laws 
Which  sprang  from  the  great  Charter,  wrung  by  the  barons  bold 

From  a  craven  \ing  of  Runnymede,  in  the  brave  times  of  old. 

In  bronze  he  is  before  us  here,  this  patriot  of  our  land; 

This  type  of  all  the  gallant  men  who  ever  more  shall  stand 
For  all  of  human  valor,  for  all  of  noble  worth, 

And  for  all  of  dauntless  courage  that  has  glorified  the  earth. 

A  strippling,  so  we  see  him,  one  of  the  great  array 

Of  the  young  South  who  sprang  to  arms  without  an  hour's  delay, 

Leaving  the  sports  of  boyhood,  leaving  the  wor\  of  men, 

Turning  away  from  the  sunny  life,  they  never  could  \now  again. 

Up  with  a  smile  in  the  saddle,  to  ride  and  fight  and  fly, 

Or  marshalled  into  seried  ran\s  to  stand  and  fight  and  die, 

Storming  with  rec\less  daring  the  heights  of  shot  and  shell, 
Or  dashing  with  rec\less  might  into  the  jaws  of  hell. 

Who  does  not  \now  the  story?     See,  you  can  read  it  there, 

Told  in  its  matchless  glory,  told  in  its  last  despair. 
Loo\l     He  has  fought  to  the  utmost,  stripped  for  the  last  hard  fight, 

Fought  till  his  gun  is  bro\en,  and  the  bitter  end  is  in  sight. 


of  the  Confederacy  141 

Then,  as  he  falls  exhausted,  with  face  of  noble  calm. 

The  steadfast  face  of  a  hero,  worthy  a  martyr's  palm, 
Then  as  he  sin\s  in  dying,  lol  from  that  realm  ajar, 

Where  justice  holds  her  even  scale  above  the  chance  of  war. 

A  splendid  form  has  swept  the  earth,  to  bear  him  in  her  clasp, 
'Tis  Glory,  with  the  laurel' wreath  of  fame  within  her  grasp  ! 

And  on  the  vanquished  hero's  brow  her  hand  will  place  that  wreath, 
The  symbol  of  immortal  fame  beyond  the  reach  of  death. 


PRINTED    BY 
CUMBERLAND  PRINTIHG  CO.  FHYETTEVILLE,  PI.  C. 


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